As a huge baseball fan, I was extremely excited when I got the notification on my phone this past Friday that my favorite baseball team (the Detroit Tigers) were playing their first spring training game of the year. Even though they lost the game, the thought of the regular season being right around the corner has me excited for opening day. In this article, I'm going to mention some major trades that happened in the off season and some predictions for the upcoming season.

Notable Trades

Clay Buchholz to the Phillies: Clay has spent his entire playing career with the Boston Red Sox. On December 20 last year, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Clay has had a very up-and-down career and is currently coming off of one of his worst years in the majors posting a losing record of 8-10 and an ERA (earned run average) of almost 5. It should be interesting to see if the trade to Philadelphia will spark Clay's career back up, after all, he was a major factor in the Red Sox World Series win in 2013, posting a record of 12-1 with an ERA under 2.

Wade Davis in a trade to the Cubs for Jorge Soler to the Royals: On December 7 of last year, the Kansas City Royals traded away closer Wade Davis for Chicago Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler. Both players are coming off of pretty decent seasons; Davis posted a sub-2 ERA for the third straight season last year and became the Royals primary closer with 27 saves while Soler had a decent season with a batting average of .238 and 12 home runs. Statistically last season was Soler's worst since he joined the majors but its still a respectable stat line.

Chris Sale to the Red Sox: Possibly the most surprising trade of the off season is the trade of former Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox. In my opinion, the Red Sox came out winners in this trade as they gave up four prospects in exchange for an elite starting pitcher. Sale has been a strikeout machine since the day he became a regular starter in the league, posting over 200 strikeouts in each season but one. Sale had struggled with White Sox management in recent years though and was never surrounded by a high-powered offense. In Boston, I expect his record to jump significantly with the better sluggers the Red Sox have.

Rules Rumors and Changes

Two major rules changes could be coming to the MLB this year. The first of which will most likely take effect this season is the intentional walk signal. Currently, a pitcher must throw 4 balls to a pitcher to intentionally walk them which takes a little over a minute to do. The proposed rule change involves the use of a signal from the dugout coach to signify a team is intentionally walking a batter. While this change won't have a huge effect on game times it will likely spark other changes in the future.

Another change that could be implemented this season also deals with game times. A "pitch clock" rule is currently in the works which would give pitchers 20 seconds to deliver a pitch when there is no runners on base. This change will most likely cut down on game times by at least 10 to 15 minutes according to the MLB rules commission.

Season Predictions

I'm not big on predicting teams to go back-to-back as playoff champions but I have a feeling the Chicago Cubs might be back in the World Series again this year. Their off season acquisitions and losses about balance each other out and if Kyle Schwarber stays healthy (unlike last year) I believe they could make a deep playoff run.

Other likely teams to see in the playoffs would be the Washington Nationals due to their solid starting pitching and ability to fill up the score sheet as well as the Boston Red Sox for similar reasons. The Cleveland Indians could also see themselves back in the playoffs as well as their off season transactions were pretty solid adding to an already good team.

As for the bottom half of the league, I see the San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox most likely finishing near the bottom. Each team struggles with starting pitching and the White Sox did not improve that aspect over the off season by giving away Chris Sale.

Regarding my Tigers, I believe they will once again finish in the middle of the pack. Brad Ausmus hasn't really proved himself as an elite GM yet and the Tigers did not make many huge off season transactions. However, with the death of owner Mike Ilitch, the team could rally around what happened and at least be in the conversation for a playoff spot, especially if superstars such as Miguel Cabrera, Michael Fulmer, and Justin Verlander have solid seasons.