Winners and losers of MLB’s opening weekend: Alex Bregman, Mets off to hot starts; Brewers, D-Backs struggle

Winners and losers of MLB’s opening weekend: Alex Bregman, Mets off to hot starts; Brewers, D-Backs struggle

The first weekend of Major League Baseball’s 2022 season is in the books. While best practices suggest the smart way to approach the game is with patience and discipline, we here like to lean into the entertainment aspect now and then. 

Consider, for example, this annual piece, in which we name winners and losers from the season’s first weekend. Will anyone remember who started hot (or cold) in a few weeks, let alone in October? Probably not. It’s this or worrying about all the world’s existential threats, though, and we know which way we’d rather pass time.

Now, let’s get toit.

Winner: New-look Mets

Sure, the Mets played the Nationals, but you can only play the schedule you’re given. The important thing is the Mets took care of business against a weaker foe, winning the first three games of a four-game set before the bullpen cost them Sunday’s affair. Offseason additions paved the way: Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar combined for 13 hits while Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt struck out 14 batters versus six hits and two walks in 12 innings of work. The Mets will see the Phillies next in what should be a more competitive and entertaining series between National League East foes.

Milwaukee remains the overwhelming favorite in the NL Central. That doesn’t mean this weekend’s series versus the Cubs was easy to stomach for Brewers fans, who had to watch their club lose a one-run game on Opening Day then get blown out on Saturday. Thankfully, the Brew Crew edged the Cubs for their first win on Sunday. The immediate road will get easier for the Brewers, who will conclude a brief road trip with three games in Baltimore against the Orioles.

The Yankees schedule had them opening with seven consecutive games at

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MLB’s top 20 offseason trade candidates: Byron Buxton, Josh Hader, and Craig Kimbrel among big names

MLB’s top 20 offseason trade candidates: Byron Buxton, Josh Hader, and Craig Kimbrel among big names

The 2020-21 offseason has begun and, well, nothing’s happened. That isn’t surprising though. The MLB offseason, much like the regular season, is a marathon rather than a sprint. The top free agents typically don’t sign until a few weeks into the winter, and the trade market can be slow to develop when so many free agents are still on the board.

Here are R.J. Anderson’s top 50 free agents. This isn’t a great free agent class, and because of that, teams could venture out into the trade market to address their needs. There are still plenty of rebuilding teams willing to trade their best players for prospects, and contenders making salary dump trades so they can spend elsewhere is possible as well.

With that in mind, here are MLB’s top 20 trade candidates heading into the offseason, ranked in order of how likely they are to be moved and how attractive they are to potential trade suitors.  

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After losing 110 games this season and 35 games during the shortened 60-game season a year ago, nothing can be off the table for the D-Backs, who don’t exactly seem poised for a quick turnaround in the rugged NL West. Marte is one of the most valuable trade commodities in the game given his play and affordable contract. This is as team friendly as it gets:

  • 2022: $8 million
  • 2023: $10 million club option ($1 million buyout)
  • 2024: $12 million club option ($1.5 million buyout)

That is at most $30 million for Marte’s age 28-30 seasons. An absolute steal. Also, Marte can play center field or second base, though hamstring trouble led the D-Backs to playing him more at second down the stretch. Playing the infield might be the best way to keep Marte on the field going forward. Either way, he’s

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