Matt Snyder

2 weeks ago | cbssports.com | Matt Snyder

Welcome to Snyder's Soapbox! Here, I pontificate about matters related to Major League Baseball on a weekly basis. Some of the topics will be pressing matters, some might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and most will be somewhere in between. The good thing about this website is that it's free, and you are allowed to click away. If you stay, you'll get smarter, though. That's a money-back guarantee. Let's get to it. Any time something in baseball changes, there's initial outcry.

2 weeks ago | cbssports.com | Matt Snyder

The Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have agreed to a 14-year, $500 million contract extension. The fallout includes a ripple effect through the rest of the league, as always with big contracts to big-time players. One of the big winners of the deal is Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker, who now stands to be the Big Dog in free agency after the 2025 season. One might recall the Cubs traded for Tucker this past offseason.

2 weeks ago | cbssports.com | Matt Snyder

Remember all that offseason consternation and some incredibly premature "best team of all-time!" talk? I even already had someone ask me if the Dodgers would be No. 1 in Power Rankings all season. It was as if spotting Bigfoot would've been more likely than seeing the mighty defending champions ever fall from their lofty perch at the top. And yet, the ballyhooed Dodgers ultimately couldn't even hold the top spot through the first full week.

3 weeks ago | cbssports.com | Matt Snyder

1 Dodgers The Dodgers are the first defending championship team to start the following season 5-0 since the 1985 Tigers. That Tigers team finished with 84 wins and missed the playoffs. Do with that what you will (Hint: It shouldn't be much). -- 5-0 2 Phillies The offense disappears from time to time, just like it did for a while on Opening Day and then the whole game on Sunday. They still win far more often than not and you can't ask for more than 2 of 3 on the road.

3 weeks ago | cbssports.com | Matt Snyder

Welcome to our annual MLB Opening Day Overreactions! I would include the year in there (for example: our fifth annual) but I don't actually remember. That's one of the perks of old age, apparently. Anyway, regulars around these parts know the deal. We're starting off tongue-in-cheek and even sort of mocking people will go nuts over 1/162 of the regular season. Lying within, though, we do get the chance to give real, earnest analysis.