The Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues are winding down, trucks are taking equipment back to the regular-season ballparks and the calendar is preparing to turn to April. It's almost baseball season, folks. Let's round up what went down on March 29, 2016.
Trades
Tigers/Rangers: Catcher Bryan Holaday was shipped to Texas in exchange for right-handed pitcher Myles Jaye and catcher Bobby Wilson. Holaday has been rumored to be on the trading block all offseason, as he is out of options and was behind James McCann and Jarrod Saltalamacchia on the depth chart, while the Rangers were looking for big-league catching depth. It's a move that makes sense for both teams.
Angels/Orioles: Lefty Chris Jones was traded to the Angels for minor-leaguers Natanael Delgado and Erick Salcedo. Jones has never appeared in the bigs, but had a 2.94 ERA in Triple-A last season (22 starts, eight relief appearances).
Roster moves, player decisions, etc.
Angels: Garrett Richards will be the opening day starter, while Andrew Heaney takes the ball in the second game (Alden Gonzalez).
Athletics: Jesse Hahn was optioned to Triple-A (Jane Lee), which means that Felix Doubront will be their fifth starter.
Blue Jays: They will announce their closer -- either Drew Storen or Roberto Osuna -- Wednesday morning (Gregor Chisholm). They have released relievers Randy Choate and Steve Delabar.
Braves: Jeff Francoeur has made the team.
Cardinals: Ruben Tejada and Jedd Gyorko will fill in at short while Jhonny Peralta misses significant time. Matt Holliday, Brandon Moss and Matt Adams will share time at first base, too (Cardinals.com).
Cubs: Matt Szczur has made the team. Munenori Kawasaki, Shane Victorino and Manny Parra were all released and then re-signed to minor-league deals as a matter of procedure after not making the big-league team.
Orioles: Hyun-soo Kim isn't going to make the Orioles, but he's "believed" to be willing to accept an assignment to Triple-A (Ken Rosenthal).
Padres: Matt Thornton has made the bullpen (Dennis Lin). Brandon Morrow is remaining with the team in extended spring training as he works back from injury instead of being released (Lin).
Phillies: They could use a closer-by-committee approach with David Hernandez and Dalier Hinojosa (Matt Gelb).
Pirates: Matt Joyce -- remember, the Orioles had interest in him if he didn't make the Pirates -- made the team. Jeff Locke won a rotation spot (Bill Brink). Also of note: David Freese played first base, his eventual platoon spot with John Jaso once Jung Ho Kang is back.
Rangers: Hanser Alberto, Ryan Rua and Justin Ruggiano have made the team (Evan Grant). Add in Holaday, and that's the Rangers' most frequent bench group.
Rays: They will go with a four-man rotation for almost all of April (Marc Topkin), which sends Erasmo Ramirez to the bullpen.
Red Sox: Brock Holt is set to play left field when the opposing pitcher is right-handed (Ian Browne), meaning Rusney Castillo is a pretty expensive mostly-bench player.
Reds: Adam Duvall and Scott Schebler will open the season as platoon-mates in left field (C. Trent Rosecrans).
Rockies: Ryan Raburn has made the team (Nick Groke). Also Trevor Story has been named the starting shortstop (Rockies.com).
Twins: Ricky Nolasco will begin the season in the rotation as Tyler Duffey was optioned to Triple-A (Rhett Bollinger).
White Sox: J.B. Shuck has made the team (Dan Hayes).
Yankees: CC Sabathia "appears to have locked up" the fifth spot in the rotation (Yankees.com).
Injury updates
A's: Coco Crisp was scratched from the lineup Tuesday due to hamstring tightness, but had it been a regular season game, he would have played (Joe Stiglich).
Brewers: Closer Will Smith, who tore his LCL after wildly taking off his shoe, has chosen non-surgical rehab on his right knee. He'll rest for three weeks and then try to start playing catch and see how his knee responds. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the full story.
Cubs: Jake Arrieta threw five innings and only allowed one run to the A's, saying his blister was now a non-issue afterward. Also, Javier Baez's thumb injury will cause him to open the season on the disabled list (Patrick Mooney).
Diamondbacks: A.J. Pollock, who has battled arm troubles all spring, had three hits in an intrasquad game on Tuesday (Nick Piecoro).
Dodgers: Corey Seager, who has been working back from a knee injury, will start Thursday with the big-league club (Doug Padilla). Howie Kendrick did no baseball activity on Tuesday and will stay in Arizona through the weekend instead of traveling with the team to L.A. (Eric Stephen). So he'll certainly start the season on the DL due to his calf injury. Finally, Yasmani Grandal is expected to be ready for Opening Day despite having a forearm injury (Stephen).
Mets: Matt Harvey's mystery ailment turned out to be blood clots in his bladder, and he won't miss his Opening Day start.
Orioles: As he works back from a shoulder injury, Kevin Gausman is set to long toss on Wednesday and throw a bullpen session on Friday (Roch Kubatko). His readiness to take the ball for his first scheduled start on April 10 is obviously questionable.
Tigers: As he works back from a wrist injury, Cameron Maybin is hitting the ball in a soft toss situation (Chris Iott).
Miscellany
Phil Humber: He has decided to retire after not making the Padres (AJ Cassavell).
