Tokyo, Japan, Saturday, March 15, 2025 - Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hits a two run homer in the third inning against the Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyo Dome. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
National League West superstars tend to be bunched on the Dodgers and San Diego Padres, which might have compelled two other teams to write a huge check to lock in a player of undeniable impact during the offseason.
Roll out the red carpet for Corbin Burnes of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Willy Adames of the San Francisco Giants.
Burnes, 30, is a top-rung starting pitcher, a Cy Young Award winner who regularly exceeds 30 starts and 200 strikeouts per season while keeping his earned-run average under 3.00. He signed for six years and $210 million.
Adames, 29, is a top-rung shortstop, a power hitter and clubhouse leader who compiled 32 home runs, 112 runs batted in and 21 stolen bases last season in Milwaukee. He signed for seven years and $182 million.
Whether Burnes or Adames are surrounded by enough talent to challenge the Dodgers' superstar trio of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman or the Padres' dynamic duo of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado remains to be seen.
1 | Los Angeles Dodgers
2024 | 98-64, 1st in West
Last year in playoffs | 2024
The expectations were World Series-or-bust a year ago. That hasn't changed despite the championship and subsequent parade. What else would anyone expect after the Dodgers added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to the starting rotation (not to mention Ohtani), Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to the bullpen and Michael Conforto to the lineup while bringing back Teoscar Hernández?
The Dodgers also locked up manager Dave Roberts with a four-year extension at a record $8.1 million a year. His primary challenge this year will be to begin the playoffs with his pitching staff and aging lineup — nearly every regular players is in his 30s — at optimum health.
2 | Arizona Diamondbacks
2024 | 89-73 3rd in West
Last year in playoffs | 2023
The Diamondbacks led baseball last season in runs, batting average and on-base percentage yet missed the playoffs a year after making the World Series. They again should be formidable and probably will present the biggest challenge for the Dodgers, especially after fortifying their starting rotation with Burnes.
First baseman Christian Walker left as a free agent but was replaced by Josh Naylor, who hit 31 home runs and drove in 106 runs with the Cleveland Guardians last season. Designated hitter Joc Pederson also departed. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same lineup, with productive hitters throughout, beginning with Ketel Marte. The starting rotation behind Burnes is solid. The departure of closer Paul Sewald shouldn't cause much concern — he was average at best — but the role has not been filled. Bullpen veterans Kevin Ginkel and A.J. Puk are the candidates along with youngster Justin Martinez and his triple-digit fastball.
3 | San Diego Padres
2024 | 93-69, 2nd in West
Last year in playoffs | 2024
A protracted legal battle among members of the Seidler family after beloved owner Peter Seidler died in 2023 seemed to handcuff the Padres front office this offseason. Yes, they still have Tatis Jr., and Machado. Sure, center fielder Jackson Merrill finished second in rookie-of-the-year balloting. And starters Michael King, Dylan Cease and Yu Darvish are back from a team that won 93 regular-season games, a wild-card series and pushed the Dodgers to the limit in a five-game NL Division Series.
But while the Dodgers and to a lesser extent the Diamondbacks and Giants made splashy offseason moves, the Padres pretty much stood pat. John Seidler, older brother of Peter, was approved by MLB on March 12 as the Padres "control person," creating stability. Whether than means a resumption of general manager A.J. Preller's freewheeling ways or continued belt-tightening remains to be seen.
4 | San Francisco Giants
2024 | 80-82, 4th in West
Last year in playoffs | 2021
Under the new front office leadership of former All-Star catcher Buster Posey, the Giants began the offseason with a major splash when Adames chose them over several other suitors. Not much happened thereafter, however. They did sign Justin Verlander, a cinch Hall of Famer, but he's 42, coming off injuries and a 5.48 ERA in 17 starts last season. They also lost two-time Cy Young winner Snell to the Dodgers.
Spring training didn't prompt hope to spring eternal, either. Top prospect Bryce Eldridge, a power-hitting first baseman, rose through four minor league levels last season but batted .182 with a bushel of strikeouts this spring and will start the season in triple-A. Since posting 107 wins in 2021, the Giants have hovered just below .500 and offer no reason to think they won't again finish behind the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Padres.
5 | Colorado Rockies
2024 | 61-101, 5th in West
Last year in playoffs | 2018
As bad as the 2024 season was, it marked a two-win improvement on 2023. Yet the Rockies have done little to engender hope, faith or anything else resembling a reason for substantial improvement in 2025. They scored the fewest runs per game and generated the second-lowest slugging percentage in franchise history last year. And their pitching remains woeful.
Ezequiel Tovar, 22, is one of the best young shortstops in baseball. Center fielder Brenton Doyle, 26, has 30-30 potential. Third baseman and Mater Dei High product Ryan McMahon seems stuck at about 20 homers, 70 RBIs and a .245 batting average every year. Kris Bryant is all but AWOL. Franchise icon Charlie Blackmon, 38, retired and joined the Rockies front office, a more difficult role than posting a .293 career batting average over the last 14 years — which he did.
Tempe, Arizona February 20, 2025-Angel's Mike Trout fields a ball in right field during spring training in Tempe, Arizona. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times) (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Only two years ago, the American League Central was crowned the worst division in MLB history. Last season, the Central was the only division in either league to boast four teams with winning records.
So maybe there is hope for the AL West, which supplanted the Central as the worst division in baseball. Then again, maybe that hope is merely a rite of spring, to be dashed during the long summer grind.
Sure, the Texas Rangers won the World Series in 2023, but cratered to a 78-84 record in 2024. With key players returning from injuries, they are the trendy favorite to win the West.
Why? Because the perennial division champion Houston Astros shed payroll by dumping Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander and Ryan Pressly.
Because the Seattle Mariners were comatose all winter, failing to complement their outstanding starting rotation with bats.
Because while the (West Sacramento?) Athletics are improved, they are miles — from here to the state capitol — from contender status.
And because the Angels show zero indication they will improve enough from their 99-loss 2024 campaign to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
1 | Texas Rangers
2024 | 78-84, Tied 3rd in West
Last year in playoffs | 2023
The Rangers have most of the players who shined during the 2023 run to the World Series title, and they have the same manager, four-time World Series champion Bruce Bochy. With Corey Seager at shortstop, Marcus Semien at second base, Josh Jung at third and offseason steal Jake Burger at first, the infield is set. Former Dodger Joc Pederson will add pop as the designated hitter. Young outfielders Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford should improve. Adolis Garcia slipped a notch from his 2023 postseason heroics but remains a power threat.
A healthy Jacob deGrom at the top of the rotation is a fingers-crossed plus, Nathan Eovaldi is reliable and former Vanderbilt teammates and first-round picks Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter will be thrust into the rotation because of injuries to Jon Gray and Cody Bradford. Texas let Kirby Yates and his 33 saves sign with the Dodgers and 2023 postseason hero José Leclerc sign with the Athletics, leaving Bochy to admit he's entering the season without a defined closer.
2 | Houston Astros
2024 | 88-74, 1st in West
Last year in playoffs | 2024
Familiar names have departed but the Astros still have energizer bunny Jose Altuve — who has moved from second base to left field — and hitting savant Yordan Alvarez to build around. Power-hitting first baseman Christian Walker was signed as a free agent, Jeremy Peña begins his fourth year as a productive shortstop, and Yainer Diaz is one of baseball's best catchers.
Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown head a rotation that might lack depth, and Josh Hader still has electric stuff closing games. Houston has won the West four years in a row and seven of the last eight years, so they can't be counted out even after shedding fixtures Tucker and Bregman.
3 | Seattle Mariners
2024 | 85-77, 3rd in West
Last year in playoffs | 2022
Center fielder Julio Rodríguez has seen his wins above replacement decline two years in a row after his rookie of the year splash in 2022, but at 24, he easily could rebound. The problem is that catcher Cal Raleigh is about the only other proven bat.
Seattle's starting pitching is among the best in baseball even with George Kirby starting the season on the injured list. Bryce Miller, Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo are durable and formidable. Bryan Woo and Emerson Hancock are promising. Closer Andrés Muñoz has a big arm.
4 | Athletics
2024 | 69-93, 4th in West
Last year in playoffs | 2020
The A's are finally out of Oakland, having secured a deal for a Las Vegas stadium and a temporary home in Sacramento. Oh, and they started spending, signing starter Luis Severino to a three-year, $67-million deal, the largest guaranteed contract in franchise history. They also locked up big bat Brent Rooker to a five-year, $60-million extension and signed Leclerc to a one-year, $10-million deal.
The A's improved from 50 to 69 victories last season, although another leap to .500 would require continued improvement from several young players, chiefly catcher Shea Langeliers, outfielders Lawrence Butler and JJ Bleday, and first baseman Tyler Soderstrom.
5 | Angels
2024 | 63-99, 5th in West
Last year in playoffs | 2014
Mike Trout has moved to right field and everyone in Orange County is rooting for an injury-free season from the future Hall of Famer. It's jarring to realize this will be his 15th season and that he'll turn 34 in August. Still, though, not a single playoff win. And expecting the first one this year is beyond wishful thinking.
On the bright side, oft-injured, highly paid and poorly motivated third baseman Anthony Rendon won't be around as a distraction after reporting that he'll miss the entire season with a hip injury.
(Illustration Stephanie Jones / Los Angeles Times; Photos Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times.)
The Angels last put up a winning record 10 years ago. I was looking for a reason to believe in the Angels, any reason.
There is a magazine called Reason. The editor-at-large, Matt Welch, is an Angels diehard. In 1982, he slept in a Ford Pinto in the Big A parking lot, waiting for his chance to buy tickets for what would have been the first World Series in Angels history. He got the tickets, but the Angels blew a two-game lead in the American League Championship Series.
So, Mr. Reason, do you see a reason to believe in the Angels?
“Generally speaking, of course not,” Welch said. “And also, because I’m an Angels fan, sure.”
Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs each project another losing season in Anaheim. Attendance has fallen 32% from its peak.
On Thursday — on Opening Day! — the state auditor’s office is scheduled to release a report that could say whether the team has shirked its maintenance responsibilities at Angel Stadium.
On Friday, former Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu is expected to learn whether he will be sent to prison for four felony charges triggered by the public corruption investigation that derailed the city’s sale of the stadium to Angels owner Arte Moreno. Neither an FBI affidavit nor Sidhu’s plea agreement alleges any wrongdoing by the Angels.
On the field, the Angels appeared to spend another winter in their decade of self-imposed purgatory: no full rebuild and no all-in free-agent signings, with rosters patched with mid-tier veterans and lacking in depth, all with the upside of winning 80-something games and sneaking into the playoffs.
On one hand, it is admirable that Moreno chooses not to subject fans to years of rebuilding, and the possible run of 100-loss seasons that comes with it, even as so many other owners run that playbook and enjoy the profits that come with slashing the payroll. On the other hand, what Moreno has done has not worked, and the Angels still lost 99 games last season.
“As long as you have some young players that haven’t fully developed but have shown some flashes of talent, they can vault ahead in a hurry,” said Welch, the guy from Reason.
He was not alone in that opinion. I asked General Manager Perry Minasian why fans should believe in the Angels.
“Great question,” Minasian said. “For me, with winning teams, it starts with a core. Now, we have a young core of players that we believe in, that we think are championship-caliber players.”
Right-hander Caden Dana, who is part of the Angels' core of young players, practices at spring training last month. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
The core is led by the two players with their faces on giant posters outside the front gate of Angel Stadium: shortstop Zach Neto and catcher Logan O’Hoppe.
Among other young position players: first baseman Nolan Schanuel, second baseman Christian Moore, outfielders Jo Adell and Nelson Rada.
On the pitching side: Reid Detmers, Jack Kochanowicz, José Soriano, Ben Joyce, Caden Dana, George Klassen and Sam Aldegheri.
On one side or the other: the No. 2 pick in the June draft.
If the Angels can hit on, say, half of those players — all 26 or younger — they can proceed with Plan A: In 2026, when oft-injured third baseman Anthony Rendon’s $245-million contract expires, Minasian can reasonably suggest to Moreno the team is one or two players away from contention. Perhaps those two players might resemble the stars Moreno signed in his first winter as the Angels’ owner: Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colón.
If the Angels cannot hit on the majority of those prospects — and it would not be typical for a team to hit on so many — then back to purgatory they go.
The Angels' Mike Trout practices at spring training at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., last month. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
In the meantime, we are 19 paragraphs into this column and finally getting to Mike Trout, the greatest player in franchise history. Trout can still play at a high level — he led the major leagues in home runs when he suffered a season-ending knee injury last year — but he has not played even 120 games in a season since 2019.
“As long as his presence is there, his performance will be there,” Angels manager Ron Washington said.
Trout did not shy away from the premise that his playing 140 games could make the difference between an unexpected run at contention and another long and dreary summer.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “Obviously, if I’m out there, it’s definitely going to help the team for sure.”
No Angel besides Trout and Ohtani has hit 30 home runs this decade. Trout has done it seven times in his 14-year career. Newcomer Jorge Soler has done it twice in his 11-year career; he hit 36 for the Miami Marlins in 2023.
Jered Weaver averaged 14 wins and 184 innings in 11 years with the Angels, the last in 2016. Since then, no pitcher has thrown 184 innings even once, and only Ohtani won as many as 14 games. He did it once. The Angels’ starters last season posted a 4.97 earned-run average, the highest in the AL.
What should Angels fans expect from their team this season?
“I don’t make any predictions,” Minasian said. “I think they’re going to see a team that plays extremely hard. I think they’re going to see a lot of talented players. We’ll see what happens.”
On the day the Dodgers attracted more than 10,000 paying fans to a workout in Japan, the Angels drew a couple hundred for free pregame workouts ahead of a Cactus League game. It is not a fair comparison, of course. The Dodgers had Ohtani in his home country, the game’s biggest star amid the team’s constellation of superstars.
The Angels have Trout. Jaxson Keltner, 12, came from Ohio and held up a large poster board, upon which he had written: “I TRAVELED 1,914 MILES TO MEET MIKE TROUT.”
Trout is the Angels’ brand name. In baseball, a brand name is not enough. It would be improbable for the Angels to go from last to first in 2025. It would be enough to give their fans a reason to believe.
Culture isn’t the be-all, end-all for an NBA team’s success on the court. As Jimmy Butler can attest to.
The superstar forward was traded from the Miami Heat to the Golden State Warriors in a blockbuster deal on Feb. 5, and in an exclusive interview with The Athletic’s Anthony Slater published Monday, he revealed why, after five-plus seasons in Miami, he does not view the organization’s infamous “Heat Culture” as important to the team’s success as many believe it is.
“There was some foundation to it in the sense of the work and all that stuff, which is great,” Butler told The Athletic. “I’m not saying it in a bad way, but I think it’s a little bit, like, overused talking about the ‘Heat Culture.’ It is a great organization. But I think a large part of that culture is you get guys that buy into a (winning mindset).
“You get some guys that buy in, you get some really good players and you get the opportunity to talk about ‘Heat Culture’ a little bit more. I’m not saying it to talk down or anything, but I think whenever you have really good players you can name it whatever you want to name it.”
The concept of “Heat Culture,” similar to “the Patriot way,” coined by the NFL’s New England Patriots, stresses a hard-working, relentless, professional and unselfish style of play.
Butler led the Heat to two NBA Finals appearances (2020, 2023) in four years during his Miami tenure and many believe that throughout those respective postseasons, Butler was the perfect embodiment of what “Heat Culture” meant to the Miami fan base.
However, while Butler believes the organization’s mantra is an effective guiding principle, talent ultimately wins out at the end of the day.
Curry, who joined the Warriors in Miami on Sunday, practiced with the team at Barry University and will participate in a separate private workout later Monday.
Curry is listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Heat.
After Monday’s practice, Warriors PR told reporters that Curry is “making good progress” and that his status will be determined by how he feels Tuesday morning.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson asked Kerr how Curry looked in practice.
“Good. Good,” Kerr said. “We didn’t scrimmage or anything but he was moving great. Surprised he knocked down a lot of shots too.”
Steph Curry is “making good progress.” Warriors didn’t scrimmage. All positive from how he was moving https://t.co/yDhRxT9jNQ
Tuesday’s game against the Heat will be emotional, as forward Jimmy Butler plays his first game against his former team.
Kerr believes it is important for Curry to be there for Butler, or any of his teammates, for that matter.
“I think Steph feels an obligation always to be there for his teammates, regardless of the circumstances,” Kerr told reporters. “He’s an amazing teammate and he wants to get back as soon as possible, mainly so we can win games and climb the ladder in the playoff race. But no doubt he wants to be there for Jimmy too, and that’s one of the things I love about Steph. He’s always there for his guys.”
With 11 regular-season games remaining and so much on the line in each contest, Curry’s presence in Tuesday’s lineup would be a welcome sight for the Warriors.
Jonathan Kovacevic left the Montreal Canadiens last offseason when Kent Hughes sent him to the New Jersey Devils in a swap that saw the Habs land a fourth-round pick in 2026. Since then, the right-shot defenseman has earned a regular spot in the Devils’ top four, forming a pair with Brian Dumoulin and signing a 5-year contract with a $4M cap hit.
The Devils were having a good season, but things got a bit more complicated lately, with superstar Jack Hughes suffering a season-ending injury, just like defenseman Dougie Hamilton. New Jersey is 4-6-0 in its last 10 games and now only has 80 points, ranking third in the Metropolitan division.
After another loss on Saturday night, this time against the Ottawa Senators, Kovacevic spoke to the media and said:
We’re in a fight, and hopefully, that will get us to that playoffs mentality. We’re 10 or 11 games out, and we carry that into the playoffs, so…yeah, obviously, the results are tough, but we’re in a fight here, and we won’t back down.
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His declaration was relayed to the Devils’ coach, Sheldon Kiefe, and the journalist didn’t have time to finish relaying it before he cut him off, saying:
Kovacevic just needs to play better. That would help.
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This is not exactly the kind of comment a player likes to hear from his coach, but we’ve seen much worse in Montreal, this is nowhere near Michel Therrien throwing P.K. Subban under the bus after a turnover led to a defeat against the Colorado Avalanche:
We played hard, and I thought we played a very solid game; it’s too bad an individual mistake cost the game late in the game. […] As a coach, I thought he could have made a better decision at the blueline and move the puck behind, and he put himself in that position. […] We play as a team, and unfortunately at the end of the game, when we don’t play as a team with get in trouble and that’s what happens.
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In three and a half years behind the Canadiens’ bench, we’ve yet to see Martin St-Louis do that to any of his players, and I don’t think we will see it. When he’s disappointed, he generally says he needs to look at the tape and address what needs to be addressed with the right person in due course.
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There are several parallels between the World Series walk-off home runs hit by Kirk Gibson, left, and Freddie Freeman, including both being hit at 8:37 p.m. (Rusty Kennedy / Associated Press; Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Freddie Freeman contemplated the question, stared quietly into the distance, then struggled to articulate an answer.
Five months after the fact, his swing for the ages was still sinking in.
On Oct. 25, in a night forever etched into Dodgers and Major League Baseball lore, Freeman delivered his walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series. With just one swing, he’d altered the outcome of a season, the fortunes of a franchise and the emotions of a fan base starved for more than three decades for a full-season championship.
But on this day, during the final week of Dodgers spring training earlier this month, Freeman said he was “still trying to process” his personal perspective on his moment of history.
The totality of that one swing — out of the countless thousands he has taken during a 15-year career in the majors that, with his eight All-Star selections, 2020 MVP award and nearly 2,300 total hits, was already on a potential Hall of Fame track — had yet to fully resonate within him.
“It’s hard to wrap [your mind] around, when you’re so fresh out of it,” Freeman said while standing outside the Dodgers’ Camelback Ranch facility, where nearby fans began chanting his name in the background. “But yeah, I can’t go anywhere anymore without someone coming up. Everyone knows who I am.”
For Freeman, moments like these have provided the most meaningful clarity, best illustrating to him the significance of the walk-off slam.
The 35-year-old slugger, of course, has long operated beneath the spotlight of celebrity. He was the face of a franchise for one World Series winner before, leading the Atlanta Braves to the title in 2021. He became a beloved figure in the Southland the following spring, when the Orange County native returned home to sign with the Dodgers in one of the many blockbuster acquisitions that preceded last year’s championship.
This offseason, however, was different. Not only because of the “10-fold, maybe even 20-, 30-, 40-, 50-fold” increase in attention he said he garnered in public, from grocery stores and charity appearances, to well-attended fan events or simply quiet days out of the house. But more so, he noted, because of what the people who stopped him repeatedly said.
Freddie Freeman holds his bat in the air as he watches his walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series against the Yankees at Dodger Stadium. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
“There’s not a day that goes by where someone doesn’t say, ‘Thank you,’” Freeman relayed. “And I’m appreciative of it. Because obviously, it means something really good happened.”
But as Freeman has internalized the impact of his World Series moment this offseason, it’s been through those ceaseless interactions with fans that he realized the impact the moment made on him.
“I like to just kinda do my job and go home,” he said earlier this spring, when he only half-jokingly acknowledged being “very uncomfortable” with all of his newfound attention. “But that’s OK. I appreciate it. I really do … You appreciate what you were able to create for people. I don’t take that for granted.”
There might be only one person in the world who can relate to what Freeman has, and will, experience in the wake of his World Series heroics.
And in the moment, he could feel Freeman’s grand slam was about to happen.
Back in 1988, Kirk Gibson hit the most famous home run in Dodgers history. While playing through a muscle tear in his left hamstring and ligament tear in his right knee, he hit a walk-off home run in Game 1 of that year’s World Series, fist-pumping his way around the bases while catapulting the Dodgers to an eventual championship.
So, when Freeman — who was playing through his own injuries last October, including a badly sprained right ankle and torn left rib cartilage — came to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning in Game 1 of last year’s Fall Classic, Gibson couldn’t help but have a flashback.
He had a premonition that history would repeat itself.
Kirk Gibson raises his arms as he rounds the bases after hitting a game–winning two-run homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. (Los Angeles Times)
“I just felt it happening before it happened,” said Gibson, who was listening to a radio broadcast of the game on his phone while huddled with some friends at a cabin in Michigan. “The thought entered my mind — much the same way it entered my mind when I was gonna have the opportunity. It’s just like, the perfect storm just keeps developing.”
Indeed, Freeman delivered in almost exactly the same way Gibson did. He launched his home run to the right field pavilion, not far from where Gibson’s ball landed 36 years earlier. He celebrated with his own iconic reaction, holding his bat in the air Statue of Liberty-style. Even the timing was eerily similar — both home runs were hit at 8:37 p.m.
“When you hit a ball that square, that solid, you don’t even really feel it,” Gibson said, remarking on yet another parallel of the two blasts in a recent phone interview. “You know from experience it’s going to go a long way. So then you get your bat on the ground, and your hand in the air.”
“Or fist in the air, in my case,” Gibson added with a laugh.
“To get the opportunity, and follow through on the opportunity, it’s ecstatic. It’s very decadent. Feels real good. Tastes real good.”
Still, like Freeman, Gibson also struggled to initially appreciate the magnitude of his moment.
Like Freeman, it was interactions in public with fans that opened his eyes to its long-lasting resonance.
“It’s very humbling to this day for people to say, ‘Oh, he’s the guy who hit the home run,’” Gibson said. “They start pumping their arm. It’s a little bit embarrassing; and that’s probably not a good word … But when they do that, they mean well.”
For Freeman, some interactions stood out more than most this winter. Like the two separate instances fans showed him tattoos they got to commemorate his World Series walk-off. Or the man he met at a preseason luncheon who told him the home run had prompted him to give up drinking.
“He wanted to be with his kids, present, [because] they were in the right field stands,” Freeman recalled at the Dodgers’ fan fest event before the start of spring. “He didn't drink that whole game, and he hasn't drank since, because of how present he was with his kids.”
“Those are the stories,” Freeman added, “that give me chills.”
Still, nothing compares to the simple “thank you” many who have approached him have felt obliged to offer. And the more it started happening, the more Freeman understood what the moment meant to him.
When Freeman first arrived in Los Angeles in 2022, he was still grappling with the emotions of his unexpected departure from Atlanta that offseason (yet another similarity with Gibson, a longtime Detroit Tiger who described feeling “melancholy” when he first arrived in Los Angeles in 1988). As Freeman struggled with his transition, it was Dodger Stadium chants of “Fred-die! Fred-die!” that helped him feel welcome in his new home.
Last August, when Freeman returned from a weeklong absence while his 3-year-old son, Max, battled a frightening neurological disorder that left the toddler temporarily paralyzed, a rousing ovation at Dodger Stadium accompanied his first at-bat back.
“These three years I’ve been here, it’s hard to put into words what the Dodgers fans have meant to us and our family,” Freeman said that night. “In the toughest times, it shows the true character of this organization’s fans, and it’s absolutely incredible.”
It’s why he believes, when he rounded the bases in Game 1 of the World Series a couple months later, he was so animated amid the walk-off Chavez Ravine scene.
Freddie Freeman was very animated as he rounded the bases after his walk-off grand slam to win Game 1 of the World Series last fall. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
There was his iconic bat raise, of course, which marked a stark break from character for someone who proudly claims to have “never pimped a home run.” (Freeman said it wasn’t a premeditated celebration, but noted with a laugh that “my dad said I used to do that on my brothers in the backyard.”) His arm-flexing scream between second and third base was also a spur-of-the-moment reaction, with Freeman only remembering that he wanted to eschew the team’s normal two-handed-wave home run celebration.
“It just wasn’t a waving moment,” he said. “So that’s what came out.”
When Freeman rewatched videos of the sequence with his oldest son, Charlie, this offseason, he said the clips of his reaction were what struck him the most. Looking back, he knew it was a release of emotions after the difficulties of his season. More than that, though, it was his way, he explained, of trying to say thank you to the fans.
“You can never repay that, how people make you feel,” he said. “But it was like a ‘thank you’ for how they’ve treated the Freemans and me. That’s how I’ve actually gone and looked at it the last couple months, as my ‘thank you’ to Los Angeles for how they’ve treated my family.
“It was so hard for me to come to the field after Max got sick. And every time I came, they lifted me up. They lifted my family up. So that’s what I’ve been thinking about the most … They helped me get through that. And I was able to help them have a championship.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was once the author of his own legendary October moment, when his stolen base in Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series helped lead the Boston Red Sox to a historic comeback from a three-games-to-none deficit.
The lesson he learned then?
“In sports, people really look towards moments in time,” he said.
And once they happen, he noted, people also never seem to forget.
"In sports, people really look towards moments in time," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, above hugging Freddie Freeman after L.A. had won the World Series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“A lot of it depends on how everybody treats it afterward,” echoed Gibson, who said he can sometimes still feel awkward about how his 1988 home run overshadowed contributions from others on that year’s Dodger team, as well as other highlights in his 17-year career. “You have really no way, in my case, of preparing for ultimately how it plays out.”
Freeman could find himself in a similar position. The attention he's received won't soon dissipate. If anything, almost regardless of his future contributions, a central piece of his Dodger legacy has already been solidified.
“He's going to hear it every day, certainly during the baseball season,” Roberts said, “about how someone was grateful or thankful for that moment.”
At the same time, Freeman is trying to reset for the 2025 season, get back to full health while continuing to battle the lingering effects of his October injuries, and help put the Dodgers in position again to create more legendary World Series memories.
“That’s all we’re trying to do, is put ourselves in the best spot to succeed,” Freeman said. “It’s hard for me to think about the bigger picture of a home run when, like now, I’m getting for the next season. So that’s the hard thing. I haven’t really been able to let it sink in.”
Roberts, however, has no concerns about how his veteran first baseman will handle such a dynamic entering the 2025 season.
“He just does a great job of focusing on the job at hand,” Roberts said, “and certainly having the gratitude — that appreciation — for what that moment did for many, many Dodger fans across the world.”
That’s why, while Freeman remains somewhat wary of the public spotlight, he has happily embraced all of his personal interactions with fans. Through them, he has felt the tangible impacts his grand slam created. Through them, he has started to realize his own emotional response to it as well.
“Obviously, the rings and the championships, that's what we're going for,” Freeman said. “But to be able to impact the lives that we've been able to do in 2024, that’s why you play sports. To be able to give someone that was special.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr does not ask much from his players, so the few rules he does have, carry weight.
Superstar forward Jimmy Butler learned Kerr’s two most important rules soon after the blockbuster trade that brought him from the Miami Heat to Golden State on Feb. 5. In an exclusive interview with The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, revealed Kerr’s two non-negotiables for him: Show up on time and compete to win as part of the group.
Butler revealed to Slater that when the Warriors were preparing to fly back home to San Francisco after a win over the Brooklyn Nets on March 6, he pulled Kerr aside to inform him of his decision to fly separately to Miami to pick up his children before beginning the team’s recent seven-game homestand.
“I pulled Steve aside and said, ‘Steve, I’m finna fly home and grab my kids,’” Butler told The Athletic. “He said, ‘Oh, OK. Yeah. See you back in the Bay.’ Like nothing else. Nothing.”
The detour was not a request from Butler, but rather him informing the team of his plans, regardless of how they felt about it. Fortunately for Butler, Kerr, who notoriously embraces a family-first environment, had no issue with his stop in Miami and wants his players to feel comfortable marching to the beat of their own drums. As long as it doesn’t get in the way of the ultimate goal: Winning.
“We welcome personal quirkiness and individualism, and I think guys always feel a sense of freedom here,” Kerr said. “I told Jimmy that from Day 1. I said, ‘You be you.’”
The Warriors, like the four other NBA teams Butler has played for, have learned that there is no controlling the 35-year-old on and off the court.
And as long as Butler abides by the team’s two non-negotiables, that won’t be an issue.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Opening Day 2024 featured a sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park, the usual pomp and ceremony and a Phillies lineup in which the entire starting outfield — Nick Castellanos in right, Brandon Marsh in left and Johan Rojas in center — occupied the bottom three spots in the batting order.
Manager Rob Thomson didn’t intend that to be a harbinger of things to come.
Sorta turned out that way, though.
Phillies outfielders as a group — and there were 11 of them before all was said and done — combined for a minus 1.1 WAR, ranking 18th in baseball. They hit a total of 50 homers. Or, to put it another way, less than Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani each slugged by themselves.
Now, it’s true that the team also won 95 games before being rudely dismissed by the Mets in the NLDS. Clearly, a lot of things went right. Which just made the relative lack of outfield production stand out like a blinking red light.
As a result, Opening Day 2025 at Washington on March 27, will showcase a new look.
After a predictable spate of rumors that the Phils would be hot and heavy in pursuit of free-agent outfielder Juan Soto, it soon became apparent that the opposite was true. They opted instead to add Max Kepler on a 1-year, $10 million deal. For the mathematically challenged, that’s 14 years and $755 million less than the archrival Mets ended up paying for Soto.
Here’s how it’s supposed to work: Kepler takes over left field, where Marsh got most of the starts last year. Marsh moves to center, his primary position with the Angels before being traded to the Phillies in August 2022.
“We get a little bit more offensive with Kepler,” manager Rob Thomson explained, sitting in his BayCare Ballpark office after an early exhibition game. “Last year was kind of a down year for him, but he was hurt a lot. And he’s a really good athlete. He can really play left field.
“Rojas is one of the best centerfielders defensively in baseball. But you’re not losing much with Marsh. So I think we stay about the same defensively but we’re better offensively.”
Sounds good. But the crux of this plan succeeding requires Kepler and Marsh, both left-handed hitters, to at least hold their own against left-handed pitching. Especially since Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott are also lefty hitters.
Kepler, 32, started 124 games for the Twins as recently as 2013. Last year, his season was cut short by a knee injury in September and he underwent surgery to repair a core injury in October. He’s now said to be fully recovered. And while he’s had notably better success against right-handers for his career (.778 OPS vs. .655), he actually posted reverse splits in limited plate appearances (.721 against LHPs vs. .672) in 2024.
He’s also worked with hitting coach Kevin Long on having better balance, moving closer to the plate to improve his ability to handle pitches on the outside part of the plate and tilting his bat to have a more direct approach to the ball.
Marsh was technically the “regular” in left last year but started just 73 games there while Whit Merrifield, Austin Hays, Wes Wilson, David Dahl, Cristian Pache, Schwarber and Kody Clemens also got playing time there. Marsh started 35 games in center and three in right.
Thomson said repeatedly last year that Marsh would get an extended opportunity to show what he could do against LHPs, but the reality is that it never happened.
When the final stats were tallied and certified, he had put up a respectable .262/.792 with 15 home runs against RHPs in 386 plate appearances. Against lefties, in just 78 tries, he batted .192/.552 with one homer. Despite that, Thomson said he saw reasons for optimism late last season.
“In his words, he was ‘taking the Kyle Schwarber approach.’ Using the other field. Staying on the ball. Thinking low to left field,” Thomson said. “It helps him with all off-speed pitches, really, whether it’s a right-hander or left-hander but especially with left-handed pitching. If he stays with that, he has a chance to have some success.”
That’s why the news that Wilson will open the season on the injured list landed so loudly. It was widely believed he would be the right-handed alternative if either Kepler or Marsh struggled against lefties.
That role could be temporarily filled by Edmundo Sosa, who played outfield throughout camp. Buddy Kennedy has made it down to the final day in Clearwater as another right-handed bench option, but his outfield experience is limited.
“If I have to, I’d platoon,” Thomson said. “But I’d obviously prefer not to because that means they can hit both sides and it keeps it a little more consistent.”
SAN FRANCISCO — A little over a week after they all gathered at Scottsdale Stadium for the start of spring training, more than 20 Giants made the short drive to a laser tag facility in Phoenix for what ended up being an intense competition. During an early round, many of them learned a lesson.
Sean Hjelle’s height seemingly made him an easy target — and Hjelle knew it. He was happy to draw all the attention from an opposing laser tag team as Mike Yastrzemski, his teammate, picked them off one by one. The rounds kept going, with laughter filling the air as All-Stars, future Hall of Famers and prospects took turns facing off in a game that many had not played since they were teenagers.
If anyone else had been at the facility, it would have been a stunning sight. For the Giants, it fit right in with a camp that had a running theme.
Just about to a man, the Giants say this as close a group as they have seen in February and March. It wasn’t just the laser tag or the wheelchair that was brought out for Justin Verlander on his 42nd birthday or the funny photos that were posted on the clubhouse TVs every morning of the player who had thrown the most strikes the day before.
It was seen during the first live BP session, when so many players filled the dugout at Scottsdale Stadium — all wearing their full jerseys — that the media and some team employees had to be moved to the visiting dugout. The camaraderie could be seen on the field during those early days, too. Logan Webb, Verlander and Robbie Ray stood behind the mound, essentially serving as extra pitching coaches for their young teammates. It was there at team dinners, including one smaller gathering between members of ownership and some of the team’s veterans.
As the Giants look for ways to surprise the rest of the league, this is where they start. Chemistry alone will not lead you to the postseason, but they have seen the past couple of seasons what can happen when there’s sometimes a lack of accountability or internal drive. The team’s leaders feel there’s a different vibe this season, and they feel strongly that it will matter.
“Everybody is together, we’re a team. It doesn’t matter who is in that room, we’re counting on each other and believe in each other,” Matt Chapman said on Monday’s “Giants Talk” podcast. “I think that’s going to go a long way. We’re a good team and we’re going to be able to get the best out of each other and be the most consistent team possible when we’re doing those things right.
“That’s the way you play the game of baseball. As stupid as it sounds, the little things are the things that add up, and if we’re taking care of all the little things, the big things are going to happen.”
The Giants gave Chapman a massive extension last year because they believe he can do both. He’s a Gold Glove Award winner who hit 27 homers in his first full season in orange and black, but he also quickly took on a leadership role in the clubhouse. When Buster Posey stepped in to help get negotiations across the finish line, he saw a player who easily would have fit on his three championship teams.
The same can be said of Willy Adames, the only free agent added on a multi-year deal. Adames has as strong an off-field and clubhouse reputation as anyone in baseball, and this spring, the Giants saw it firsthand. They actually saw it first in January, when he made a long drive to their facility in the Dominican Republic to hang out with 16-year-olds who were signing as international free agents, something he wished a veteran had done on his own signing day. And later that month, when he moved into a house in Arizona so he could get to know teammates before camp started.
“When you watch him play baseball, that’s how he is all the time. He’s smiling all the time,” Webb said. “He kind of brings people together.”
Webb is about to begin his seventh big league season, and he was one of the many who said this spring that the clubhouse was closer than he had seen in previous seasons. The important thing, Webb said, is that it happened organically.
“We’re not forcing it to happen,” he said. “Which is great to see.”
If there was a sense at times this spring that a cloud had been lifted, it’s not hard to see why. Two years ago, the Giants became so discombobulated that they fired their manager. Last season’s struggles led to the firing of president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who paid not just for mediocrity on the field, but also the sense that the organization lacked cohesiveness and identity.
Zaidi was replaced by Buster Posey, who gave a speech to the entire team early in camp that Webb said had him “ready to run through a brick wall.” Over and over again in Scottsdale, players mentioned the word “trust” when asked about Posey. As both Verlander and Adames said after signing, it mattered to them that the new boss is a former player, and they’re not alone in that.
“It’s just nice to have a guy like Buster who is so in tune with the game,” closer Ryan Walker said. “He hasn’t been out of the game for very long, so he’s still got that player mentality, as well. I feel like everyone is a bit more comfortable and at ease a little bit, I would say.”
There were subtle changes all spring, many of which seemed to have Posey’s fingerprints on them. Former Giants standouts were brought back to camp, including Spanish-speaking players like Yusmeiro Petit and Marco Scutaro who could connect with the team’s young contributors from Latin America. The hallways at Scottsdale Stadium were adorned with photos showing off the history of the franchise, and when the Giants return to Oracle Park tonight, they’ll see changes to the clubhouse, which was stripped of any mentions of the championship era by the prior regime.
Ultimately, Posey will be judged on wins and losses, but he saw during his playing days that positive vibes can go a long way in a sport that grinds you down for six months. Posey’s second championship came after Hunter Pence’s famous speech in Cincinnati. His final season included a shocking division title after players looked around in the spring and essentially asked, “Why not us?”
That 2021 team was a close-knit group that came together quickly and exceeded all expectations. Webb was a huge part of it, but four years later, the challenge might be even tougher.
It’s hard to envision a scenario in which the Giants, who open their season on Thursday in Cincinnati, can even keep within shouting distance of the historically loaded Los Angeles Dodgers all summer, but they believe they will be right in the thick of the playoff race. Chapman and Webb were both in touch with Posey over the offseason as he contemplated moves, and while it was a small group of additions, they believe it will be an impactful one.
“I think we’ve done a great job of just bringing the right guys in, the right players in, the right coaching staff,” Webb said. “There are a lot of winners, I would say. I think it starts with that.”
Webb came up with Bruce Bochy, who often would talk about how it was easier to look like you’re having fun when you’re winning. Nobody did more of it this spring than the Giants, who won 19 games in Cactus League action and had the best winning percentage in baseball.
Now comes the difficult part.
Can the Giants stay on the same page when they hit their first losing streak? Will they find a way to connect when injuries hit the roster? If they’re once again hanging around .500 in August, will the finger pointing start again, or will they fight their way into October?
Webb has faith that the vibes, at least, will last. He has seen highs and lows since breaking through as one of the faces of the franchise in 2021, but he’s confident in this roster, one that gelled early in camp.
“I think that’s led to us playing better, right?” he said. “I think you’re playing for the guy next to you, the guy behind you. I think that’s how you build chemistry.”
As the season winds down, we continue to see new milestones reached and clubs making the call to shut down injured players. In this article, we will look into a bit of both and also touch on intriguing performances from a busy week of NBA action.
Notable Achievements
DeMar DeRozan took a significant step in cementing himself in the NBA history books as he reached the impressive milestone of 25,000 career (regular season) points in a loss against the Bulls on Thursday. He is in the midst of his 12th consecutive season averaging at least 20 points per game, and he averaged 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.0 steals over four outings last week. DeRozan should continue to shine as he must lead the way for the Kings as they pursue their postseason hopes.
Jimmy Butler is making his presence felt with his new squad as he became the fastest player in Warriors history to rack up 100 rebounds and 100 assists, reaching the milestone on Tuesday, in just his 17th appearance with the team. He has reached the 20-point mark in eight of his 19 outings since joining the club, including in three out of four games played last week, averaging 22.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 1.3 steals over that span. He should continue to thrive as he looks increasingly more comfortable with each game played in the new setting.
After becoming the seventh player in NBA history to score at least 20 points in 60 consecutive games, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pushed the streak up to 64 games and is averaging 33.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks over that span. His impressive achievement makes a great case for him to earn his first MVP award, and he can be expected to continue to lead the charge for his energetic squad as they look to keep their momentum going into the postseason. The Thunder also clinched first place in the Western Conference and are sitting on a 59-12 record.
Sandro Mamukelashvili made history on Wednesday, as he set the record for most points scored by a player in under 20 minutes of action. He shot a blistering 13-for-14 from the field and 7-for-7 from beyond the arc on his way to 34 points in 19 minutes. The big man saw on-and-off minutes through the majority of the season but has earned more consistent time since Victor Wembanyama was injured. Mamukelashvili is averaging 13.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 14.8 minutes per game over the last five games. He should continue to see a similar amount of opportunity through the final stretch of the campaign, especially after his massive performance.
Bronny James turned some heads as he accumulated 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting, three rebounds, five assists and a block in 30 minutes of action during a blowout loss to the Bucks on Thursday. As a result of his efforts, he earned a place in Lakers history, becoming the youngest Lakers rookie since Magic Johnson to achieve 17 points and five assists while shooting 70 percent from the field. James continues to see sparse action, usually late in blowout situations, and will have to continue to make the most of the limited opportunity.
Stand-Out Performers
Jaylin Williams opened the week by recording his second triple-double of the season, as he finished with 19 points, 17 rebounds, 11 assists and two steals in a 33-point win over the 76ers on Monday. He kept up his solid play through the rest of the week and averaged 15.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists over the three games played. His big game on Monday was partially a result of him picking up a bigger role in the absence of Jalen Williams. However, he is averaging 16.9 minutes per game on the season, which is plenty of time for him to continue to make his presence felt and provide important support off the bench.
Stephon Castle has started in the last six games and is averaging 20.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks over that span, including topping the 20-point mark in two of the Spurs' four games played last week. Castle has been a key part of the Spurs' rotation all season and is likely to continue to handle a significant role down the stretch as the club is no longer in the playoff mix and focusing on development is their only meaningful goal that remains.
Josh Giddey was two steals away from a quadruple-double in his last outing, as he tallied 15 points, 10 rebounds, 17 assists and eight steals in 33 minutes of action in a 31-point win over the Lakers on Saturday. He played in just two of the Bulls' four games last week but shined in both outings, as he had 22 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block in a loss to the Suns on Wednesday. Giddey is averaging 14.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.2 steals on the season and has hit the 20-point mark on 12 occasions. He also has 24 double-doubles and four triple-doubles. He is in a great position to continue to grow with the team's young core and is on track to help lead the way as they are set for a run at the postseason.
Donovan Mitchell is noted here for the opposite reason as the above-mentioned players, as he is coming off his worst stretch of the season, averaging 16.8 points on 30.3 percent shooting over four games last week. His struggles coincided with the Cavs' first four-game losing streak of the season, which spanned from March 16 to March 21, before they managed to get back on track with a win over the Jazz on Sunday. Despite the rough patch, the Cavs maintain a 5.0-game hold on first place in the East and should be able to cruise the rest of the way without losing their grip on the top spot. Mitchell has been a major factor in their success, averaging 23.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.3 steals on the campaign, maintaining his streak of averaging at least 20 points per game in every season of his career. Mitchell is likely to get his groove back and should continue to be the leading force in his club's push through the postseason.
Shut Down
It was announced early last week that Paul George would be shut down for the season after receiving injections to deal with injuries to his left adductor muscle and knee. The news puts an end to arguably the most disappointing season of his career, as his debut campaign with the 76ers could not have gone much worse. In his defense, the team's struggles mostly hinged on the unavailability of Joel Embiid. However, George was not able to carry the torch in the big man's absence, as he averaged less than 20 points per game for the first time in 10 seasons. At 34 years old, George still has time to get his game back on track, as long as he can recover to full health. Additionally, with a healthy Embiid and Tyrese Maxey by his side, he could help lead the 76ers to a quick turnaround next year.
Trey Murphy was working on a stellar season, averaging career highs of 21.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, but it came to an abrupt end last week, as he suffered a torn labrum and partial rotator cuff tear early in a meeting with the Pistons on Monday. Murphy reached the 30-point mark seven times, including two games with at least 40, as he established himself as a legitimate scoring threat from the wing this season. As long as he comes back healthy, he will be a key figure for the Pelicans' next campaign and should continue to build on his impressive progress in what will be his fifth NBA season.
