The Cubs dismissed Rick Renteria on Friday, and they will introduce Joe Maddon on Monday as the 54th manager in franchise history — and third in four seasons under president of baseball operations Theo Epstein.

The Cubs will have another season of Jacob Turner after picking up the club option on the right-hander’s contract for 2015. Turner, who is out of Minor League options, will make $1 million in 2015. He’ll be eligible for arbitration next winter.

The Marlins solidified their catching situation before free agents are eligible to sign elsewhere. The team announced on Saturday afternoon it exercised the club option on catcher Jeff Mathis, who will make $1.5 million in 2015.

As expected, the Royals declined to exercise a 2015 option on designated hitter Billy Butler’s contract for $12.5 million, but general manager Dayton Moore said the club wants him to return.

In addition to extending a $15.3 million qualifying offer to Melky Cabrera on Saturday, the Blue Jays picked up options on J.A. Happ, and Josh Thole. They also bought out Brandon Morrow, Sergio Santos and Dustin McGowan.

What’s the obvious need for the 2015 Royals, fresh from their first World Series experience in 29 years? Right off the bat, you’d have to say more bats. Productive bats. Maybe even some that could get Kansas City off the bottom of the American League home run list. Yet, playing in spacious Kauffman Stadium means that the Royals will stay with their emphasis on pitching, defense and speed.

The Blue Jays made their first big move of the offseason on Saturday afternoon by acquiring right-hander Marco Estrada from the Brewers in a trade for Adam Lind.

Astros prospect Mark Appel dominated with a premium fastball for the first two innings against the Scottsdale Scorpions on Friday in the Arizona Fall League, but he lost velocity after that and became very tentative when he got into jams in the third and fifth. It was just a five-inning snapshot, yet it left some scouts in attendance wondering if the 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-hander will become the dominant starter Houston plans to build a rotation around.

The Twins are expected to name Paul Molitor as their next manager on Monday, according to a report from 1500ESPN.com. However, the Twins have not confirmed the report and an announcement wasn’t expected from the club on Saturday.

The Associated Press reported on Friday that the Phillies and pitcher A.J. Burnett both declined their $15 million mutual option. Now, Burnett has a Monday deadline to accept or decline his player option.

Some suffered from ineffectiveness in 2013, while injuries hampered others. But the common denominator for the nine players nominated for MLB.com’s Greatness in Baseball Yearly (GIBBY) Award for Bounceback Player was that ’14 was a heck of a lot better for them than ’13.

In the moments after the Giants closed out the Royals in seven games and claimed a third World Series in five seasons, the term dynasty was quickly adhered to them. Three World Series championships in five seasons. Two seasons of not even making it to the postseason. A dynasty? In the National League, definitely. It is all relative.

The Orioles announced Friday night that they declined their half of a mutual option on their longest-tenured player, Nick Markakis, for the 2015 season.

The regular season and postseason have ended, but the Hot Stove season is upon us. Here’s a top-25 list of free agents, plus a few more names to kick around in these days as teams begin to try to get better than the World Series-champion Giants.

For the third time in five seasons, the streets of the City by the Bay were sparkling with orange and teeming with love for the World Series-champion Giants, the cheers and screams flowing from McCovey Cove to City Hall and culminating with a celebration before hundreds of thousands of fans Friday. This time, Mother Nature joined the party early, raining tears of joy on the unflinching faithful wearing orange and black for another Halloween baseball bash.

Though Pablo Sandoval professed his love for the Giants, the third baseman’s ardor apparently isn’t all-encompassing, given his willingness to consider other free-agency options. “I’m going to go where my heart tells me,” Sandoval said Friday after the Giants celebrated their third World Series title in five seasons with a confetti-showered parade through downtown San Francisco.

The Tigers announced qualifying offers to free agents Max Scherzer and Victor Martinez among a flurry of moves Friday, including the loss of Andy Dirks off waivers to Toronto and Patrick McCoy off waivers to Baltimore.