Sometimes you can’t judge a baseball recipe after one year. Sometimes it takes more than a year for the ingredients to blend together to produce the winning stew. The Royals and Blue Jays were hot choices after busy 2013 offseasons, but they didn’t deliver for another year or two. Along those lines, is there a more fascinating team around than the Padres?

“The next day he called me and asked if I could help him move some furniture.”

Jose Rosario, a right-handed pitcher in the Astros’ Minor League system, was killed in a motorcycle accident in the Dominican Republic on Sunday, the team Monday said in a statement.

Leading up to Friday’s release of the 2016 Top 100 Prospects list, MLBPipeline.com will state the case for five players who could arguably be considered baseball’s No. 1 prospect. Jim Callis starts the series with the case for Twins outfielder and reigning top prospect Byron Buxton.

The Mets revealed plans on Monday to retire the No. 31 jersey worn by former catcher Mike Piazza before a game against the Rockies on July 30, as part of a weekend-long celebration at Citi Field.

The playoffs are winding down across the offseason Winter Leagues, and we’ll soon have an idea about which teams will be moving on to the Caribbean Series. Scheduled to begin in early February, the Caribbean Series will feature the winners of the Dominican Republic, Mexican, Puerto Rico and Venezuela Winter Leagues, as well as one team from Cuba.

Jason Castro and the Astros appear to be headed for an arbitration hearing scheduled for Feb. 8.

The Twins wrapped up their final arbitration case Monday when they agreed to a one-year contract worth $7.25 million with third baseman Trevor Plouffe.

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia regained his power last year, but he lost some of his speed — particularly when he strained his right hamstring in late June.

Familiar and new faces flashed before Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado on Saturday at Rockies Fest. All greeted him with more enthusiasm than in years prior. Such is the case when folks see a player as the new face of the franchise.

There were so many surprises this offseason that they couldn’t be limited to 10, so here are the top 15.

Here’s a look at the latest Hot Stove developments from around the big leagues., including the talk of a possible contract extension for Josh Reddick in Oakland.

Here’s an update on the top seven free-agent players still available — one for each day of the week. These players could still impact rosters in a major way as we steam ahead toward Opening Day.

Free-agent right-hander Bronson Arroyo is reportedly drawing interest from both the Nationals and Reds. The 38-year-old is seeking a new club after missing all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Many of this year’s BBWAA awards winners credit childhood experiences with inspiring their love of baseball. In fact, Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa, the National and American League Rookie of the Year Award winners, respectively, aren’t that far removed from the days of playing ball in their own backyards.

Kevin Kiermaier had a historic season in terms of Defensive Runs Saved, but what can Statcast do to better explain what that means? With some new ways to look at the data, we can see just how far out ahead of the field Kiermaier is.

With much of the attention being doled out to the teams who spent the most money, several clubs have had really good below-the-radar winters. While the Yankees, Mariners and Blue Jays have refrained from chasing big-name free agents this offseason, they are positioned to contend in 2016 — thanks to a number of wise offseason moves.