Madison Bumgarner, already named the Giants’ Opening Night starter, also will begin San Francisco’s Cactus League schedule by facing the Oakland A’s on Tuesday in Mesa.

Despite everything two-time Cy Young award winner Johan Santana has been through over the years he hasn’t given up the dream of returning to Major League Baseball.

Rockies manager Walt Weiss said Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez would miss the team’s Spring Training opener, but the club is pleased with their progress as they return from injuries suffered last season.

Josh Hamilton’s potential suspension for a drug of abuse would not hinge on his recovery from shoulder surgery. The Angels’ outfielder would begin serving a suspension at the beginning of the regular season, regardless of whether he would’ve started the year on the disabled list, according to people familiar with the process.

The threat of rain didn’t stop the A’s from gathering for a four-inning intrasquad game at Fitch Park on Saturday morning. The defense greatly impressed manager Bob Melvin, and pace of play was an object of interest.

It was an offseason of changes for the Twins after their fourth straight year of a least 92 losses, and as a result, Joe Mauer sees more optimism heading into this season than in years past.

Yankees utility infielder Brendan Ryan said on Saturday that he’s making progress in his recovery from a strained muscle in the middle of his back, and he hopes to resume baseball activities next week.

Nick Swisher had not faced live pitching since last August until stepping to the plate for a live batting practice session Saturday morning. The veteran was welcomed back by hard-throwing Indians right-handers Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar.

As if they don’t have enough of them, the A’s welcomed in another new face Saturday morning. Right-hander Chad Smith, claimed off waivers from Detroit on Thursday, arrived at Hohokam Stadium excited for his latest opportunity.

C.J. Cron made his name throughout the Angels’ Minor League system by hitting the type of home runs teammates told stories about, and catching prospect Jett Bandy has two of his own.

Trevor Bauer is out of Minor League options and assured a spot in the Indians’ Opening Day rotation, barring any unforeseen setbacks. In his first live BP workout, the right-hander worked on all of his pitches, including the two-seamer and splitter he refined over the winter, and said he felt like he could have thrown longer than he did.

For the second time in three days, Victor Martinez made an early appearance at Tigers Spring Training without doing much activity. He won’t have to wait long to come back and do something.

As we inch closer to Spring Training games, the number of quality players available on the trade market could make the month of March as active as this past winter. Here are my top candidates to garner a lot of attention and even potentially be traded by the start of Opening Day.

Glenn S. Fleisig, a leading expert in pitcher injuries, made a couple of simple but forceful points on Saturday morning: Too much pitching leads to injury. And pitching when you are fatigued does as well — even more so.

Blue Jays outfielder Michael Saunders wants to make one thing clear: He was the one who decided the best course of action was to remove 60 percent of the meniscus from his left knee. Saunders underwent surgery on Friday afternoon and the fact that his meniscus was removed instead of repaired means he’ll return in approximately five-to-six weeks. If the doctor fixed the cartilage, Saunders would have been out until the All-Star Break.

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson emphasized collaboration and communication as the keys for incorporating new ideas like defensive shifts and catcher framing at the annual Sloan Sports Analytics Conference on Saturday.

With Braves center fielder Melvin Upton Jr. set to miss at least the first month of the upcoming regular season with a left foot injury, Eury Perez, Todd Cunningham, Eric Young Jr. and Zolio Almonte are the top candidates to fill Upton’s spot.