MLB 2023: New rules, big money Mets, Ohtani’s walk year

By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer

Baseball has transformed in the 145 days since Dusty Baker and the Houston Astros’ sealed up the franchise’s second title in six seasons. As New York Mets owner Steve Cohen dominated an offseason that saw billions spent, the sport braced for a new world that includes pitch clocks, bigger bases, limits on defensive shifts and pickoff throws, and an overarching attempt to reverse decades of lengthening games and the Analytics Era domination of the Three True Outcomes — strikeouts, walks and home runs. No player will be watched more closely this season than Shohei Ohtani, a two-way megastar in the final year under contract with the Los Angeles Angels.