Well, baseball fans… it’s almost that time of year again – spring training is just three weeks away! After the annual (extremely rough) four-month baseball drought, it’s finally the boys of the spring’s season again. 33 days of spring training will determine who makes the cut for the guys still working their way up and will give the veterans the practice they need before 162 regular season games.

I know the Grapefruit League is just as important, but since we’re in Arizona, I’ll be focusing on the Cactus League and what to expect from the 15 in the Phoenix area.

For those who don’t know, those teams include: The Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers.

Some of the biggest offseason moves to look out for include the White Sox picking up Wellington Castillo, a catcher who is expected to help navigate the somewhat lost pitching staff. The D-Backs acquired a relief pitcher, filling a gap with Brad Boxberger. The Indians signed first baseman Yonder Alonso, who was inconsistent last season, but will hopefully be able to add a bat to the Cleveland lineup. The Mariners got Dee Gordon in the offseason and with his power and speed, he should prove to be a beneficial acquisition.

Mike Minor will now be a part of the Rangers’ six-man rotation, something that is never done in baseball. The Angels picked up Ian Kinsler and Zack Cozart, giving them a strong infield and two strong offensive players. The Giants acquired Evan Longoria, Andrew McCutchen and Austin Jackson, making for a busy offseason – with good reason, since they are coming off of a 98-loss 2017 and desperately needed to make moves.

The Cubs, who didn’t need it as much as the Giants, also had a busy offseason with Steve Cishek, Tyler Chatwood and Brandon Morrow. The Rockies improved their pitching staff with the highest-paid reliever in history, Wade Davis.

The biggest offseason move by a Cactus League team, though, was the Angels getting international sensation, Shohei Ohtani. Almost every team was vying for him, but it came down to his final six, in which he ended up going with the (less expected) LA team.

Here’s a quick list of the top prospects to look out for during spring training: Eloy Jimenez (White Sox), Nick Senzel (Reds), Francisco Mejia (Indians), Brendan Rodgers (Rockies), Michael Kopech (White Sox), Chris Shaw (Giants), Fernando Tatis (Padres), Ryan McMahon (Rockies), Walker Buehler (Dodgers), Triston McKenzie (Indians), MacKenzie Gore (Padres), A.J. Puk (A’s), Jon Duplantier (D-Backs) and Heliot Ramos (Giants).

Spring training begins on February 23 and opening day is the earliest it’s ever been – March 29.