he marathon that Is the Major
League Baseball season is
about to begin, with spring
training camps opening up
across Florida and Arizona. This
aspect is no different from any other
season, ftowever, what is different this
time is the installment of year-round
inter-league play. With the Houston
Astros switching leagues, there are
now 15 teams in each league, thus
creating the need for an inter-league
matchup to occur at all times. Since
its inception in 2007. inter-league play
normally occurred over the course
of a two-week period in June or
July. Now. it will occur from April to
September. Many oppose this schedul
ing change, as teams will be playing
fewer games between divisional and
league rivals, which in many cases
have playoff implications. Inter-league
play has always been about the fans,
though. Attendance is always higher
during the games and it allows fans to
see teams and players that they other
wise wouldn't get to see. Then again,
a Yankee fan would much rather see
Justin Verlander, Prince Fielder and
the Tigers come to town than Chase
Headley and the Padres.
With a new season comes a new
hope for all 30 teams. In particular,
the two Los Angeles teams, the Dodg
ers and Angels, have high expecta
tions for the 2013 season. The Angels
spent big last off-season, acquiring
Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. However,
landing two of the best available free
agents was not enough to get the
Angels into the playoffs. The Money-
ball-esque Oakland Athletics and the
Texas Rangers each finished above the
Angels and both made the playoffs.
So the Angels once again landed the
top free agent prize in signing former
Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Ham
ilton. Despite struggling at the end
of the 2012 campaign, the Angels still
shelled out $125 million dollars over
five years for Hamilton. With an esti
mated payroll well over $200 million,
missing the playoffs is not an option
for the Halos.
The Dodgers have also been rack
ing up the hlgh-prlce stars over the
last few months. On the trade dead
line in 2012, the Dodgers traded for
several key Red Sox stars, including
Carl Crawford, Josh Becket and Adrian
Gonzalez. The Dodgers also traded for
Miami Marlins star Hanley Ramirez.
However, like the Angels, the Dodgers
also failed to make the playoffs in 2012.
In 2013, the Dodgers have shelled out
big money once again; however, this
time not on star players. The Dodgers
gave reliever Brandon Lyons $225 mil
lion and gave $36 million to Hyun-jin
Ryu, who signed from Japan. The
Dodgers' opening day payroll will also
exceed the $200 million mark, coming
in at around $233 million.
A team north of the border has
also made a splash during the winter.
The Toronto Blue Jays traded for last
season's National League CY Award
winner, RA Dickey Toronto also com
pleted a trade with the Miami Marlins,
acquiring pitchers Mark Buehrle, Josh
Johnson, catcher John Buck, outfielder
Emilio Bonifacio and shortstop Jose
Reyes.
With all of the hype around the
Angels, Dodgers and Blue Jays, it's
easy to forget about the two teams
that were actually in the World Series