After a wild baseball winter, spring training is in the air.
The Mets inked Juan Soto to the largest contract in MLB history — and also brought back fan favorite Pete Alonso this week. The Dodgers had another busy offseason, including the addition of prized Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki. And the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros and New York Yankees were among the most active teams in a scorching-hot trade market.
Now, with pitchers and catchers reporting across Arizona and Florida this week, we'll start seeing how those moves translate to the diamond. We've asked our ESPN MLB experts to get us ready for spring training with the stars and storylines they're most excited to see as baseball returns for the 2025 season.
Buster Olney: The Mets are a must-see stop in spring training and will be must-watch all year. The Dodgers are baseball's Evil Empire in many fans' eyes and will be aiming to be the majors' first back-to-back champion since the 1998-2000 Yankees. But in many ways, the Mets will be the team under the most pressure this year, given their success last October, the record-setting signing of Juan Soto and that they have such a difficult challenge in the loaded National League East.
The major competitive question the Mets face is this: In the face of another rotation makeover, can they replicate the starters' production of 2024, when they ranked fifth in innings and 12th in ERA?
Jorge Castillo: Can the Mets reproduce some of their magic? The lineup is undoubtedly better than a year ago with the addition of Soto, Mark Vientos coming off a breakout season and Alonso back after a long winter for the slugger. The bullpen has been upgraded. The rotation has questions but so did last year's.
Beyond the talent,
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