Discussing Some More MLB Off-Season Takeaways

--As we inch closer and closer to Spring Training be prepared to start hearing a lot of love for the Houston Astros. It's easy to forget, since Boston and Cleveland have stolen offseason headlines as of late, but it was Houston who won the first wave of the winter. The Astros signed Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran in addition to trading for Brian McCann. Add in the young (and underrated) core of Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, George Springer, and Alex Bregman, and you have a championship contender. Only two things could get in their way. One is the fact that out of all those players I just named none are pitchers. Dallas Keuchel regressed after his Cy Young campaign in 2015 and the team ERA rose from 3.59 to 4.07. The other worry for them is that winning the offseason means nothing. We have seen teams time and time again win the offseason only to bust in the regular season. Still this winter has been big for Houston. They have an unbelievably bright future ahead of them.

--Perhaps no player in baseball has more to prove this upcoming season than Nationals superstar Bryce Harper. Yes, Bryce is still a superstar. People seem very eager to forget that he is just one year removed from being the youngest unanimous MVP in the history of Major League Baseball. In 2015 Harper hit .330/.460/.649 with 42 homers. His 9.9 WAR that year is the fifth highest total in a single season since 2002 according to baseball-reference. Unfortunately he followed that up with a 2016 season that can only be described as less than ideal. He started hot in April before regressing majorly over the final few months of the season and ultimately finished with a .243/.373/.441 line and 24 long balls. Part of this can be blamed to playing through a shoulder injury as well as being unlucky in the BABIP department, but he is going to need a couple of monster seasons if he wants that $400 million deal as a free agent in 2018.

--I don't think people realize exactly what we are witnessing with Clayton Kershaw right now. In the five year span from 2011 to 2015 he won three Cy Youngs, led the league in ERA four times, WHIP four times, strikeouts three times, and won a MVP award. What is scary is that until getting injured 2016 was going to be his best season yet. This past year in just 21 starts he had a 1.69 ERA with an unholy 15.64 strikeout to walk ratio, which would have been the highest of all time. For context the single season record is 11.62. He also overcame some of his postseason demons by coming out of the bullpen to clinch the NLDS over the Nationals. Kershaw doesn't play on the East coast, doesn't have a polarizing personality, and has never been to a World Series so perhaps his numbers don't get the national craze they deserve. However, he is still the unquestioned best pitcher on the planet and is in the middle of a run we haven't seen since Pedro. There's no telling when his skills will diminish so be sure to enjoy his games while we still can.

--The World Baseball Classic is never going to be the World Cup. It's never even going to be what the Olympics are for hockey or basketball. But it's a tournament with games that matter played during a month where the games don't matter. That's something worth getting excited about. Additionally it looks like Team USA will be fielding its most competitive roster yet. In the first three tournaments it's fair to say USA has severely underachieved since they have finished no higher than fourth. The problem with the tournament as a whole will always be that not all the best players play. So far though USA has gotten commitments from Buster Posey, Paul Goldschmidt, Eric Hosmer, Nolan Arenado, Daniel Murphy, Andrew McCutchen, Andrew Miller, and Chris Archer. It's their best chance since the 2006 team at making a deep run and generating national interest. The WBC begins on March 6th and will run through March 22nd.