MLB Opening Day: Clayton Kershaw, Stephen Strasburg take mound for season's start  —  The full-fledged opening of the baseball season evokes a similar excitement to the start of a long-distance race, where the competitors know they're in for an endurance test but still can't wait to get going.

Paul DePodesta: The Brain Behind the Browns Rebuild  —  Cleveland's crafty chief strategy officer plays coy when pressed on how he plans to help the franchise return to relevancy.  But here are a few clues into the Browns' draft strategy.  Plus items on Adrian Peterson visiting the Pats …

Pitcher Tyler Cravy lashes out after being cut by Brewers  —  The Milwaukee Brewers made their final two pitching cuts of spring training Saturday and to say the least, neither player took it well.  —  Relievers Tyler Cravy and Rob Scahill were told they were being sent to Class AAA Colorado Springs …

Bumming out the DBacks  —  Madison Bumgarner is perfect through four innings as the Giants lead the Diamondbacks 1-0.  Bumgarner threw just 40 pitches, 30 for strikes.  Five of the 12 outs came via the strikeout.  Bumgarner also drew a walk in his first plate appearance, and just homered leading off the fourth.

Games of the Day  —  The Pirates visit Fenway Park as Gerrit Cole takes on the Red Sox and reigning Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello.  Cole is coming off a down year in which injuries limited his playing time and led to his walk and home run rates going up.

Jets expect Muhammad Wilkerson to be 'Mo better in '17 — or else  —  The New York Jets expect to see the 2015 version of Muhammad Wilkerson this season, not the slow-Mo who labored through a pedestrian 2016.  Reputations are riding on it, mainly those of Wilkerson and general manager Mike Maccagnan …

Offseason In Review: Colorado Rockies  —  This is the latest entry in MLBTR's Offseason In Review series.  The full index of Offseason In Review posts can be found here.  —  The Rockies obviously see an opportunity to contend in 2017, and made some hefty commitments over the winter to bolster that possibility.

THE CAMDEN EFFECT: At 25, ballpark's legacy is large in MLB  —  A quarter-century later, Larry Lucchino can be self-deprecating about a vision that ushered in a new era of ballpark construction.  —  “I tell everyone I've had one good, original idea in my 38 years in baseball,” said Lucchino …

Yadier Molina's $60 million contract is money well spent for the Cardinals  —  It's a sign of the times that the average fan will react to Yadier Molina's three-year, $60 million extension with disdain, thinking that the Cardinals paid too much.  —  Molina is indeed likely to decline during the contract …

Rays remain confident in Austin Pruitt despite rough debut  —  ST. PETERSBURG — It's not often a relief pitcher faces three batters, makes his pitches and leaves with the bases loaded.  But that was what happened to Rays RHP Austin Pruitt, who made his major-league debut Sunday in the ninth inning …

Mets ace Noah Syndergaard ready for Opening Day start  —  Noah Syndergaard vaguely remembers sending the tweet.  He was lying on his couch in his apartment.  Only a few hours had passed since he climbed the mound in the National League wild-card game, delivered perhaps the game of his life . . . and watched the Mets lose.

Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie: Lions CB D.J. Hayden needed ‘fresh start’  —  PHOENIX — Part of Reggie McKenzie wanted D.J. Hayden back with the Oakland Raiders, and if the money had been different it might have happened.  —  But McKenzie also knew that, for Hayden to reach his potential as a cornerback …

The No. 1 concern of every MLB general manager  —  In my 15 years as a general manager, I was always asked going into a season what my No. 1 concern was.  To answer, I almost always went to talking about my concerns about our players' health or the state of the team's starting rotation.

Rangers send a clear message to Keone Kela with minor-league demotion  —  The Rangers' surprising demotion of Keone Kela on Friday stemmed from the way the reliever conducted himself during a recent “B” game, according to major-league sources.  —  Several of the Rangers' senior players took exception …