Matt Snyder | CBS Sports MLB Analyst

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You had a chance to catch one of those games in the World Baseball Classic. So now that the dust has settled, what did you think? I think it's growing. I think it just continues to get bigger and bigger on the worldwide stage. So many of these other countries take it so seriously and it's such a big deal.

You look at, I think it was Chinese Taipei. I was looking at the crowd and it was a sellout and it was a home run and they were going crazy and they were doing some kind of chop thing. I didn't even know what it was. They had cheerleaders on the dugout. It was amazing.

They have way more fun than we do in so many other countries watching baseball. Especially since it has been six years since the last event. To see it come back and be so huge, I feel like next time around it's even going to be bigger. And I do want to say one thing about the injuries because I know there's been a lot of focus on the Edwin Diaz injury. He was hopping after Puerto Rico beat Dominican Republic to advance. You know, Reece Hoskins tore his ACL in spring training. Gavin Lux tore his ACL in spring training. I know Jose Altuve had the broken thumb on a pitch in the WBC, but Justin Turner and Austin Nola both got hit in the face with pitches in spring training. There's just as much risk in spring training as the World Baseball Classic. So it sucks to lose guys to injuries in the event, but it does in spring training too. We heard the commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred, indicate that he would like to see more and more superstars. So more and more of baseball's best to participate in the WBC. Is there a point at which teams could say no to a player or is that something they're not allowed to do?

Oh, they can. Ronald Lacuna Jr. and the Braves went kind of round and round this offseason. It was kind of the last minute that the Braves finally said, just go ahead and go. As much as the players seem to love it, and this was the most I've ever heard players rave about it, was this year.

It seems like that's why I think I feel like it's getting bigger and bigger. It's not just the fans internationally. It's the players and it's American players. There were a few players in the Dodgers clubhouse. I don't think we were on record, so I'm not going to say their names, but they were Americans and they were talking about how big of a deal it is. They talked about how Clayton Kershaw really wanted to pitch in it, but it didn't line up with where he was in terms of getting ready for the season. Remember, he was on Team USA and he backed out. Several other big name pitchers on USA had to back out.

That's where it looked like USA kind of had an A lineup, but maybe it's not even B or C teams. Like D or E starting pitching. And that's where I think Goodell was like, USA could run out something, could have this year something like Justin Verlaine or Max Scherzer or Garrett Cole at the top of the list.

And instead it was more like Merrill Kelly in one of the biggest games. So I think that's where we're probably headed though because everybody's ramping it up in spring training anyway. And there are pitch limits on the guys in the World Baseball Classic in the early rounds. One of the things that I appreciated about the WBC was the chance to see Shohei Ohtani in front of his own fans. So in front of the crowds there in the Tokyo Dome that were completely insane over this guy. How much bigger can his star get, Matt?

Not much. I mean, we feel like we're at the apex. But then again, I probably would have said the same thing in 2021 when he won the MVP in his first year where he was able to stay healthy the whole year and pitch the entire year in the rotation. Pitch like an All-Star, hit like one of the best sluggers in baseball. Well, he came back last year and he probably was a better pitcher than hitter, which is saying a lot. Yeah, at WBC MVP heading into this year, he looks like he could be a Cyon candidate and still hit 40 home runs, which still just sounds ridiculous to even say out loud. And it'll be the third year where we could say that.

I thought it was really neat to see he and Mike Trout go against each other as did most of baseball and its fans. What would the Angels need to do to keep him? The first thing is make the playoffs. He hasn't even made a secret about how he's tired of being at a playoff contention come September. And maybe not even make the playoffs. I feel like they do need to make it, but I guess let's say if they were in contention down to the final series, and then they gave him an offer that blew him away and it looked like they were still building and they were going to be just as good, if not better, toward next year, I could see him entertaining that. But if they're going to go out and win 73 games, I would say he's out the door no matter what the money says. They absolutely have to be in contention. If they're not in contention come trade deadline, my hunch is they'll probably trade him because they'll know that he doesn't want to stay and he'll probably make it clear. But if they're in contention to the end and then they make the playoffs and let's say they went around to the playoffs, I would start to come off the feeling that he's definitely going to leave and I would think, you know what, there's a chance he could stay, but he wants to win.

Yeah, for sure. It was very obvious how excited he was about the success of Japan. Sometimes where he's a little more reserved, he was throwing his glove and yelling and there were lots of big smiles, so that was really cool to see the other side of him. Matt Snyder is with us talking to baseball with opening day on Thursday, part of CBS Sports and covers MLB.

It's after hours, CBS Sports Radio. Outside of Otani, what are the top headlines as we break spring training and start to play, Matt? Well, we haven't had a repeat champion in a long, long, long time. Gosh, it's got to be the Yankees, 99 and 2,000. So we haven't had, surely the other major sports have had a repeat champion since then. The Astros, probably the best, you know, and you can't really say program organization, one of the most well, the best organizations in terms of how they've run things and built their talent base to the point that they lost Justin Verlander in free agency and I still think they're the best team in baseball heading into next year, heading into this year.

We're really close, a couple days away. That's a big one. We see a repeat champion for the first time since the Yankees all the way back in the prime jitter years. That's a long time without a repeat champ. Another one is, I look at the Dodgers, gone to the playoffs so many years in a row. It's been 2012 was the last time the Dodgers didn't make the playoffs and their only World Series championship and there was 2020. That was a shortened season. World Series was all neutral sides. So while it counts, they haven't won a World Series in that stand in a full season in front of full crowds in home parks, in a helmet home in the World Series situation.

So like those are the two team level ones that stick out to me the most. There's been a lot of chatter, or at least there was early in spring training about the pitch clock and many predictions about how we'll see this impact game times. What's your reaction to the implementation to this point and what potential impact it could have? Well, I think everybody went way too crazy about it the first week in spring training because people are always going to adjust. There's a reason they started the spring training and we've got six weeks in spring training. Last couple weeks, you'll notice there hasn't been all those viral posts on social media of like, a game ended when a pitch was even thrown. No, because everybody's making adjustments now. The game times of spring training drastically were cut down. Now, when you get in the regular season, we've still got the commercial breaks.

I still think it'll take a little bit longer than spring training. But whereas if you're looking at a normal game being in the 310 range, I bet you we're going to see 245-ish or so. And for me, it's less about the time of game and more about the dead time being cut out.

And guys just standing there forever, stepping out, stepping off, taking forever, staring each other down. There's going to be a lot less dead time and a lot more action. I think that was the main goal. I think it's going to be great. Maybe there will be a regular season adjustment period, but my hunch is by May, we barely even notice the clock. Do you believe that it will have the impact of attracting new fans? Potentially the fan base is getting younger? Because we know that's what Rob Manfred and Baseball are after.

I would say on the clock aspect, it's less about thinking that we're going to bring a bunch of people in and more about not driving people away, if that makes sense. Somebody who's never watched a baseball game before, you're telling your friend, hey, this is a big playoff game, you should watch this. And they go and most of the time they're looking at the screen, it's guys staring each other down at home plate and they're going, what's going on? Why is this taking forever?

Why is there nothing happening? Now we're going to have a lot less dead time and I think there's a lot more chance to hook people with more action. You mentioned Reese Hoskins earlier, definitely a blow to the Phillies, but there's still a ton of excitement around them coming off of a year in which they made the World Series and then they added Trey Turner. What do we see from the Phillies in terms of an encore?

It could be very similar, actually. They're not going to get Reese back. I guess maybe if they made a run to the World Series, he could DH, bringing back memories of Kyle Schwarber with the 2016 Cubs, but a torn ACL. But I'm thinking more about Bryce Harper being out to start the year. It looks like they were talking All-Star break when he first had the procedure on his elbow, but now it looks like maybe Memorial Day might be realistic. Ranger Suarez looks like their third starter.

He's probably going to start the season on the injured list with a forearm injury. Maybe they have some things to settle in the bullpen. I feel like they're probably going to end up in one of the wildcard spots because they're contending with the Mets and the Braves in the NL East and they're probably not going to be as strong at the start of the year as they are at the end. But by the end of the year when they're full strength, they're going to be really, really good. And if they do make the playoffs, and I believe they will, you're looking at Nola and Wheeler and Suarez again in the rotation, the bullpen. They added Craig Kimbrell.

We'll see what he's still got. But they traded for Gregory Soto, All-Star closer from the Tigers, along with Sir Anthony Dominguez and Jose Alvarado. And then that lineup will be very similar, except now Trey Turner's at the top. I feel like it could be another situation where they win 86, 87, 88 games, and then they're a really tough out in the playoffs. Matt Snyder covers Major League Baseball for CBS Sports.

He's with us here after hours on CBS Sports Radio. Matt, that was a tough division last year. The NL champion came out of the NL East, but you also had the Braves and Mets win over 100 games. Is it the East, or is it another division in baseball that you think will be the most competitive in 23? I'm going to go with the AL East. Yankees are still really good.

I don't know if their 99 win is good, but they weren't that great in the second half and they still won 99. The Blue Jays, 92 wins last year, and I felt like for a lot of the year they underachieved. The Red Sox, I don't think they're any worse than last year. And a good note for the Red Sox was they were 26 and 50 in the AL East last year, which is horrific. But the schedule has changed.

It's a lot more balanced now. Now the teams only have 52 games in division instead of 76. So for the Red Sox, that means less getting beat up on by the Yankees and Blue Jays and Rays. And more games against teams like the Royals and Tigers and A's.

That should give them a natural bump there. And I still like the Rays, the Orioles, one of the upstart teams in baseball last year. The curve should continue to be pointing up for them. So the AL East, you could well see five teams all with a winning record. I don't know what you thought of the Guardians this time last year. However, they were one of the youngest teams in baseball.

They ended up with 92 wins. So what I'm looking for, Matt, is another team that fans should pay attention to. Whether it's their youth, whether it's additions, whether it's the leadership.

That could be the Guardians of 23. Well, not winning the division because they're in the wrong spot for that. But I like where things are headed with the Diamondbacks. They have a lot of good young talent. Corbin Carroll is my prediction for National League Rookie of the Year. Even though a lot of people like Jordan Walker of the Cardinals, and I do too. But I'm going with Corbin Carroll there. They've got a lot of good young talent. We're going to see Gabe Moreno thrown into the catcher role now that Carson Kelly had a forearm fracture. Alec Thomas, Jake McCarthy in the outfield. Cattell Marte is an established star, but he had a bad year last year. I think he's going to bounce back. I don't think they have all the starting pitch that they need behind Zach Gallin at this point.

Although he is a scion contender. But I think the Diamondbacks are going to be kind of a sneaky type, maybe fringe contender. But at the very least, they're going to be a pest. Kind of the way the Orioles were a pest in the A.L.E. I can see the Diamondbacks really bothering, not finishing in front of, but bothering the Dodgers and Padres. Speaking of the Padres, glad you went there, Matt, because they put a ton of equity and capital into this roster.

Seems as though the franchise is going for broke. Trying to build on what happened last year. So, how high are you on the Padres? Well, our predictions are coming out on Wednesday, so I guess this is a little bit of a spoiler.

But it's only a few hours ahead of time. That's why I'm winning the World Series. Oh! They got to the NLCS last year. They only had a couple months of Juan Soto, and he wasn't even like pure Juan Soto. They didn't have Fernando Tatisci at all.

They didn't have Zander Bogarts because he was on the Red Sox. So, if I'm looking at them full strength toward the end of the year, and if Jake Cronenworth is your fifth best offensive player. You have three guys in Machado, Soto, and Tatis who could win MVP. You have another in Bogarts who's probably a top ten MVP type finisher.

That's a completely loaded offense. And then I go to the pitching staff and you see Hugh Jarvis, Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove. That's a heck of a big three.

They signed Michael Waka who could be a really nice four in the playoffs. The bullpen was in flux for most of the year last year. But it's settled with Robert Suarez in front of Josh Hayter. They fixed Hayter down the stretch.

They're top to bottom. A very, very impressive team. I think they're going to win the division over the Dodgers. And then I've got them winning the World Series.

This is the second year for Julio Rodriguez. He really captured a ton of attention. A megawatt smile.

A game to go along with. The Mariners are a team that fought and scratched and clawed. Finally got back into the playoffs.

And so now they can build on that. How critical is he to the success of the Mariners? But also, how important do you think he is as one of the young superstars in baseball?

Oh, paramount to both. Bigger to the Mariners because, I mean, no insult to Julio. But there are a ton of young superstars in Major League Baseball right now. We're so blessed with so many of them. If I throw out a name like Ronald Acuna Jr. And it's like, oh, yeah, yeah.

I mean, I could do that with like dozens of names. Oh, yeah, he's amazing. Just like Julio. Mariners, if I look at that lineup right now and you take Julio out of it.

Ooh, I don't know. I mean, I like Ty France. I like Teasco Hernandez.

I like A.U. Suarez. How could you not love Cal Raleigh? But Julio is the linchpin there. And he means everything to that team. He's an MVP type player. Probably as soon as this year. I don't think he's going to win it.

I've got Joe Otani. Way to go out on a limb there, Matt. Yeah, exactly.

But, I mean, it's crowded, you know. You've got Jordan Alvarez if you're going to look at the Astros. Aaron Judge on the Yankees.

But Julio is definitely that type of player who could be in the MVP mix. I like this team. I don't think they can beat the Astros.

They're a wildcard type. But two wildcards in a row after that long of a playoff drought is not an insult at all. Opening day comes up Thursday. It's this new look for baseball. All 30 teams who will play, barring weather, on March 30th. What other day on the sports calendar is comparable to opening day, Matt?

Oh, man. I mean, in terms of the hope with everybody having hope, there probably isn't anything like it. You know, I'm a big fan of so many other sports. And I'm just drawing a blank there because I do feel like, for example, I'm a Bears fan in football. I was really excited for the NFL season, but I knew the Bears weren't going to make the playoffs. So, yeah. And I'm sure that we could say in baseball this year, like, the Nats and the A's aren't going to make the playoffs.

But I feel like you could make a case for 24 to 26 teams that have a shot that could break through and surprise you. So, yeah, I'll say nothing. There's nothing like it.

Absolutely nothing like it. Coming up on Thursday, I want to make sure you find Matt on Twitter, at Matt Snyder CBS. He's got the power rankings and the predictions coming out on Wednesday. It is always great to catch up with you.

We look forward to doing it again during the season. Thanks, Matt. All right. Have a good one.