The San Diego Padres and superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. agreed to a 14-year, $340 million contract extension Wednesday night, a source tells ESPN's Jeff Passan. The deal is the third-largest contract in MLB history, trailing only Mookie Betts and Mike Trout's record paydays.

What does the deal mean for Tatis, the Padres and the rest of the sport? Will San Diego win its first World Series with Tatis as the face of its franchise? Where does the newly paid Friar rank among MLB's best players? And who could be in line for the next major extension? We asked ESPN MLB experts David Schoenfield and Bradford Doolittle to weigh in.

Fourteen years, $340 million? What do you make of the years and total dollars the Padres are giving their young superstar?

Doolittle: Fourteen years is ... a really long time. By the end of this deal, teams will be flying from their hotels on the road -- which will be built in the sky like Lando's city in "The Empire Strikes Back" -- and going to the ballpark in hovercraft. Everyone will have a robot maid with roller skate feet named Rosie. But by then, who knows, $30 million will barely be enough to cover a year's rent for a studio apartment in the Gaslamp quarter. The Marlins will be playing in a ballpark constructed on stilts. My feeling is that the Padres think Fernando Tatis Jr. is going to be really good for a really long time. If anyone is worth this kind of contract at 22, it's probably him.

Schoenfield: I don't think we're allowed to curse here, but holy ... cow! Talk about buying out his free agent years. I love this. I love the Padres spending the money to lock up a player who could be the best and most exciting franchise cornerstone in the game for the next decade-plus, a player who -- yes -- has the potential to be the best player in franchise history. It's not without risk since Tatis had the back injury as a rookie, but from what we've seen in his two half-season in the majors, if he stays healthy this will prove to be a wise investment for the Padres.

What does it mean for the Padres to have Tatis locked up for his prime years at such a young age?

Doolittle: The Padres see what everyone sees, which is that Tatis is the full package and not just because of what he does on the field. He's a great hitter whose peak is still well in the future. He's a great athlete who holds down the most important defensive position on the field, but he's big, too, and someday will be an All-Star at other positions. And for a team that hasn't had a true franchise icon since Tony Gwynn retired, Tatis can be that for the Padres, as well as one for all of baseball. More than anything, it signals to San Diego fans that the Pads aren't just loading up for a short-term challenge to the Dodgers. They plan on being a factor year in, year out.

Schoenfield: It means the Padres are going to sell a lot of tickets in upcoming seasons as they go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers in the best rivalry in MLB since the Red Sox and Yankees circa 2004. I think there's a lesson to be learned here for all organizations, big-market or small-market: the Padres did not mess around with Tatis' service time back in 2019 as he made the Opening Day roster. They could have easily have kept him in Triple-A for a couple weeks to preserve another season of team control. Maybe that gesture helped them lock up Tatis with this contract.

Where does Tatis rank among the best players in baseball right now?

Doolittle: He's on the short list. Mike Trout hasn't relinquished his crown yet, and if he does, Mookie Betts is probably best positioned to take his place. After that, you get into the group of fast risers, like Tatis, Juan Soto and Ronald Acuna Jr. There will be others who rise to challenge, like perhaps Wander Franco. But as we prepare for that debate, the important thing to keep in mind is that there are really only a handful of transcendent players in the big leagues at any given time and the Padres have locked one of them up for the foreseeable future.

Schoenfield: He's right near the top. He now has about a full season's worth of playing time (148 games, 629 plate appearances) and has hit .301/.374/.582 with 39 home runs, 27 steals and 7.0 WAR. His plate discipline improved in 2020, as he cut his strikeout rate from 29.6% to 23.7%. He's entering his age-22 season and has a chance to be the best player in the game -- which, surprisingly, isn't as rare as that sounds.

Ten players have led their league in bWAR at 22: Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Bryce Harper, Stan Musial, Alex Rodriguez, Cal Ripken Jr., Pete Reiser, Trout, Johnny Bench and Rogers Hornsby. Those are all inner-circle players except Harper (who hasn't been able to match that 2015 season) and Reiser, who got injured. Like Brad, I would still lean to Trout or Betts as best in 2021, but Tatis has inner-circle potential.

If you were starting a team, where would Tatis rank among the current players you would choose to build around?

Doolittle: If we take the question at face value -- starting a team -- then we're talking about a process that takes awhile and because of that, I'd take Tatis over Trout, Betts or anyone else. The reasons are obvious and mirror those that inspired the Padres to make this investment. He's very young, very good, has a skill and position profile that will keep him viable for a long time to come and, best of all, he gives my new team an immediate identity and a reason to come to the ballpark no matter what else is going on.

CONCORD, N.C. – State and local restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have forced the cancellation of the spring West Coast Swing for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

With COVID-19 restrictions throughout the West Coast limiting the availability of fans at tracks, World of Outlaws officials were forced to cancel the entire West Coast Swing for the spring only.

The canceled dates include March 4 at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas; March 12-13 at Arizona Speedway; March 20 at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway; March 21 at Santa Maria (Calif.) Raceway; March 26-27 at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif.; April 2 at Merced (Calif.) Speedway; April 3 at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif.; and April 9-10 at Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park.

Those who purchased a ticket in advance to any of the West Coast events will receive a face-value credit to their MyDirtTickets.com account to be used towards any World of Outlaws event available at WorldofOutlaws.com/tix.

If an account credit does not work, fans have 30 days to click here to visit the refund request page.

Magnolia Motor Speedway and The Rev will replace the now-canceled Arizona Speedway doubleheader, with Magnolia taking place on Friday, March 12, and The Rev taking place on Saturday, March 13.

Fans that have already purchased tickets for Magnolia and The Rev can use those tickets for the new dates. Those unable to make it to the rescheduled dates have 30 days to request a refund through the following link.

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season continues Friday and Saturday, Feb. 26-27, at Cotton Bowl Speedway with the Texas Two Step.

New events, in place of the West Coast events, will be announced soon adn will take place after Cotton Bowl to bring the tour back to its original schedule, with Lawton Speedway set for Friday, April 16, and Devil’s Bowl Speedway following on Saturday, April 17.

LOS ANGELES – Brooks Koepka’s struggles with injury and poor play the last year or so have been well documented but rarely, if ever, did that frustration boil over on the course.

That’s not to say there weren’t fits of anger elsewhere.

Koepka, who won the Waste Management Phoenix Open in his most recent start, had missed three consecutive cuts, culminating at the Farmers Insurance Open, where rounds of 72-76 led to a short week and the demise of some clubs.

“I snapped two sets of irons after playing [the Mayakoba Golf Classic in December] and then after Torrey, and I don't really do that,” Koepka said Wednesday at the Genesis Invitational.

Unlike some players, Koepka waited until he was away from the course to take out his anger. “It was in the living room," he said. "I walked right into the house and just [snap] right over the knee.”

Koepka isn’t prone to outburst on the course and he went on to explain that his recent struggles simply got the best of him.

“It's not a common ritual and I'm not one to break clubs or do anything,” he said. “Just frustration. I'll be honest, I didn't even come out of my room on Saturday at the house we rented. I don't think I came out of the room for about 30 hours or so, I was so mad at myself, didn't want to talk to anybody.”

During the college golf season, GolfChannel.com will check in weekly to update what’s happening in the world of college golf.

After finishing up play at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate last March, South Carolina senior Ana Pelaez boarded a plane to Malaga, Spain. It was the Gamecocks’ spring break, so head coach Kalen Anderson gave Pelaez the go-ahead to head home for some time with her instructors and family.

While Pelaez was away, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in the U.S. with full force. With rumors of an international travel ban into the U.S. from Europe becoming reality, Anderson phoned Pelaez and told her she better hop on a plane as soon as possible or risk not hitting another college-golf shot ever. At that point, South Carolina’s spring season had been postponed, yet the SEC Championships and NCAA postseason remained on the schedule.

“I told myself if this is the last time I’m going to play with my team, then I’m going to come back and try it,” said Pelaez, who quickly boarded a flight to Columbia, first connecting in Miami.

“And as soon as I landed, they canceled everything.”

So, Pelaez got right back on a plane, only not to school but back home. She would spend almost 10 months there.

While Pelaez had initially planned to return for the U.S. Women’s Amateur in August and then head back to campus, travel restrictions and the uncertainty of the Gamecocks’ fall schedule ultimately quashed those plans. Pelaez didn’t want to get on a plane (again) only to come right back (again).

“I think she had a little PTSD from everything that happened,” Anderson said.

So, Pelaez stayed in Spain, where she practiced every day and stayed competitively sharp. She notched a couple of top-3s during the summer and then represented Spain in the European Ladies’ Team Championship. Also, after deciding not to return to campus in the fall, she teed it up in a few pro events, posting a pair of top-3s in those, before winning the Copa Andalucia last month.

“I had a really good season back home,” Pelaez said. “But following my team [during the fall] on Golfstat, feeling kind of jealous like I wanted to be there with them, I was ready to come back.”

Her team was excited to have her. Pelaez arrived back in Columbia for her final semester in late January. She was greeted by several new faces, including All-American transfer Pimnipa Panthong and three freshmen.

“I felt like a freshman again, not gonna lie,” Pelaez said. “There were so many new people. I was like, ‘Are you guys the freshmen or am I the freshman?’”

Added Anderson: “Ana’s got such great energy, so upbeat, so positive – we talked a lot when she was gone, but you just don’t get all that through FaceTime. It’s great to have all that back.”

South Carolina arguably has a much better player back, as well. When Pelaez first flew to Spain last March she was ranked outside of the top 150 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. She is now No. 25 and has received an invite to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur this April.

“She’s a better and mature version of herself,” Anderson said. “She’s looks really, really good and confident in herself.”

Pelaez might’ve tied for third in qualifying for the Moon Golf Invitational, the team’s spring opener held last Sunday-Tuesday in Melbourne, Florida, but she came alive in the tournament. She fired all three rounds under par, including a bogey-free 5-under 67 in the second round. She ended up finishing the same (T-3) as she did in her qualifier, yet this time it was against 17 of the top women’s teams in the country.

South Carolina won the event at 24 under, six shots clear of LSU. Virginia, Florida State and Auburn rounded out the top five. Super sophomore Pauline Roussin-Bouchard shot 13 under and took the individual title by four shots – and she didn’t even count for the Gamecocks the final day. That’s how deep and talented this South Carolina squad is.

And they are even better with Pelaez back in the fold.

A new kind of shotgun start

Florida head coach J.C. Deacon gets an A-plus for creativity.

With help from his tournament committee members, Vanderbilt’s Scott Limbaugh and North Florida’s Scott Schroeder, Deacon used a unique kind of shotgun-start format for last weekend’s Gator Invitational.

With inclement weather expected later in the weekend, the 21-team field had to try and squeeze 54 holes into two days. And with the Gators’ home course, Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, featuring limited range space, there was no way a typical shotgun start, where all players start at the same time off different holes (and warm up simultaneously), would work.

So, Deacon and his fellow coaches decided on a hybrid, combining elements of a shotgun start with that of traditional tee times. Starting with Friday’s first round, the 120 players went off in foursomes off of six different holes beginning at 8 a.m. On each of the six holes, there were five sets of tee times, running until 8:40 a.m. Players starting off Nos. 1, 4 and 7 warmed up on the front part of the range while those off Nos. 10, 13 and 16 hit balls on the back of the range, and no player had more than a minute or so walk to his starting tee.

The same was done for Friday afternoon’s second round and Saturday’s final round. Despite a three-hour rain delay on Saturday, the tournament was completed by Saturday evening, before the weather really worsened on Sunday.

“You couldn’t do this kind of start on many golf courses, but our course was built for it,” Deacon said. “It turned out to be perfect, a no-brainer. I probably owe those boys [Limbaugh and Schroeder] a couple of beers because I wore them out a little bit.”

The Gators wore out their competition on the course, too, winning their home event for the second straight year. Florida finished at 29 under, five shots ahead of Auburn and Georgia, and now has won two straight events to open the spring. Sophomore Yuxin Lin, who transferred to Florida from USC during winter break, led the Gators with a T-6 finish.

“It feels like we’re on to something,” said Deacon, who then reflected back on the fall, when his team finished 10^th or worse in two of their three SEC-only events. “I remember sitting in the van after finishing 10^th at the Jerry Pate and before we pulled out of the parking lot at Old Overton we had a chat. … I basically told the boys, ‘All of us have to get to work. We have not earned the right to take a couple of months off here and put our feet up.’ And everyone did that.

“This [start] was earned in November and December.”

College Golf Talk

Steve Burkowski and Brentley Romine catch up with Florida head coach J.C. Deacon following the Gators' win at the Gator Invitational. Plus, the guys discuss how deep the women's SEC is and predict which players could be filling out the U.S. Walker Cup team.

No Fitzy and Power, no problem for Wake

With arguably its two best players sitting out after a grueling weekend at the Jones Cup, Wake Forest was far from full strength when it headed to Kiawah last Sunday to tee it up in its third event of the spring.

The good news for the Demon Deacons is that their full strength can hang with most teams, and they proved it Tuesday at Oak Point Golf Club by shooting 37 under and winning the Kiawah Invitational by nine shots over Clemson.

“What a great team win for our guys,” Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas said. “I told somebody last week that we are an explosive bunch with a long way to go, but when we get it going, we make a lot of birdies. That is exactly what we did this week. … They want to be the best team in the country, and I believe that will happen.”

Even with likely Walker Cuppers Alex Fitzpatrick and Mark Power not in the lineup, Wake set a program record with its first-round, 21-under 267. Freshman Michael Brennan, now the new favorite for the Phil Mickelson Award, shot 16 under to win his first college title by five shots over teammate Eric Bae and East Tennessee State’s Archie Davies.

The Demon Deacons have now opened the spring with finishes of T-1 (playoff loss), second and first.

PGA Tour University update

The was no movement in the top 10 this week, though that should change by next week as the college golf calendar really ramps up. Auburn's Andrew Kozan was the big mover this week, co-medaling at the Gator Invitational to improve  58 spots to No. 49. Also, keep an eye on Minnesota's Angus Flanagan (35) and San Francisco's Tim Widing (20), who are both teeing it up at the Genesis Invitational this week.

• 1. John Pak, Florida State
• 2. Chun An Yu, Arizona State
• 3. Austin Eckroat, Oklahoma State
• 4. Davis Thompson, Georgia
• 5. Sandy Scott, Texas Tech
• 6. Quade Cummins, Oklahoma
• 7. Garett Reband, Oklahoma
• 8. McClure Meissner, SMU
• 9. Trevor Werbylo, Arizona
• 10. Hunter Eichhorn, Marquette
• 11. Kyle Hogan, Texas Tech
• 12. Jovan Rebula, Auburn
• 13. Devon Bling, UCLA
• 14. Adrien Pendaries, Duke
• 15. Cooper Dossey, Baylor

For full ranking, click here.

LOS ANGELES – Officially, Francesco Molinari’s tee shot at the first hole on Saturday at Pebble Beach traveled just 70 yards. As for why the Italian got off to such a poor start, well, that’s golf.

“I don't know. I think there's many explanations and none, really,” he said with a laugh Wednesday at the Genesis Invitational. “Just a bad swing, bad conditions, probably not my favorite club in the bag and that happened.”

Molinari, who recently joined Riviera Country Club, explained that Saturday’s cold and damp conditions at Pebble Beach likely contributed to his miscue off the first tee and he also said he’d been tinkering with a new 3-wood all week and “went a bit too far with that.”

Molinari finished 59^th out of 67 players who made the cut at Pebble Beach and there were more challenges than his effort at the first. The Italian’s regular caddie, Mark Fulcher, tested positive for COVID-19 and wasn’t able to work.

“It's mentally a lot harder when you have to do pretty much everything yourself on the course and you don't have the usual support from your caddie,” Molinari said. “Hopefully [Fulcher] can be back soon and we can get back to good results pretty soon.”

Erling Haaland scored twice as Borussia Dortmund overcame an early deficit to beat Sevilla, 3-2, in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday.

Sevilla went immediately in front after just seven minute when Suso's shot from the top of the box after some fine footwork took a wicked deflection off a Dortmund defender and beat Marwin Hitz in net.

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Dortmund needed only 12 minutes to hit back and it came in sensational fashion, through Mahmoud Dahoud who unleashed an unstoppable shot from distance after picking up a pass from Haaland near the top of the box.

Haaland collected his first just before the half-hour mark -- the Norway international combining with Jadon Sancho before stretching and beating Sevilla keeper Bono to the England man's cushioned chip.

Haaland made it 3-1 in the 43rd minute when, from a counter-attack, he rolled a Marco Reus pass across Bono and into a gaping net with his first touch.

Luuk de Jong gave Sevilla a lifeline six minutes from time with a side-footed finish of a Oscar Rodriguez free kick after ghosting free at the back post.

The return leg in Dortmund will be played on March 9.

CLEVELAND -- Kevin Love took part in most of practice for the Cavaliers on Wednesday, moving the five-time All-Star closer to playing after missing most of the season with a calf injury.

Love has been out since Dec. 27, when he aggravated a calf strain he initially incurred in the team's exhibition opener.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Love was able to do "quite a bit of the live stuff'' during the workout as the Cavs, who have lost eight straight, got in a previously unscheduled practice after Wednesday's game against San Antonio was postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak among the Spurs.

"Hopefully that's a good sign,'' Bickerstaff said of the latest step in Love's slow improvement. "Obviously you wait and see how he responds tomorrow, but he's making progress and he was with us for most of the day.''

The Cavs host the Denver Nuggets on Friday, a matchup arranged by the NBA after the game against the Spurs was scrapped.

Love's return would provide a major boost for the Cavs, who have dropped 10 of 11 and are now enveloped in a situation with center Andre Drummond, who will not play as the team tries to trade the two-time All-Star, who is in the final year of his contract.

As the decision to bench center Andre Drummond while the team pursues a trade has drawn criticism -- most notably from Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green -- Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said "nobody's decision should be muted."

Bickerstaff said Drummond was not with the team Wednesday, and the Cavs are still discussing if he will stay around while trade talks proceed. The team has decided not to play the two-time All-Star, who is in the final year of his contract and not part of Cleveland's long-term plans.

The 27-year-old Drummond was on the bench and cheered on his teammates during Monday night's loss at Golden State.

Following Monday's game, Green said a double standard exists in the NBA in terms of players and trades -- that players are unfairly labeled as selfish if they ask to be traded while teams can do as they please.

Bickerstaff was aware of Green's comments but avoided saying he disagreed with them.

"Nobody's opinion should be muted,'' Bickerstaff said Wednesday. "Obviously there's conversations that we've had with our guys as far as this process goes that everybody's not privy to. But again, guys have a right to speak their voice and organizations have to do what's best for the organization. I think that's kind of how it works and it shouldn't be a two-way street, so to speak.''

Bickerstaff again praised Drummond's professionalism ``in difficult circumstances.''

"He's been great,'' Bickerstaff said. "He was in the locker room at halftime having conversations with the guys about what he saw on the floor. He was there after the game. He's been tremendous through this whole thing and it's not easy.''

The Cavs will continue to provide whatever resources Drummond needs, Bickerstaff said.

There's always a concern Drummond's awkward ordeal could have a negative impact on a young team like Cleveland's. However, Bickerstaff remains confident the Cavs are committed and can move forward without too much disruption.

"This is not an easy situation and anybody who says it is would be being dishonest,'' Bickerstaff said. "It goes back to how we treat each other period as human beings and not just as pieces on a puzzle board. So we have to make sure that we're doing the right thing by him as well.''

As the Cavs watch it all unfold, guard Collin Sexton said Drummond has the support of his teammates.

Sexton, though, would not say if Drummond was being treated fairly.

"I'm just focused on the season,'' he said. "That's still our guy. I don't know anything that's going on in between him and the front office. But I just know that if Andre steps on that court tomorrow with us, we're gonna go out there and battle with him.

"And whatever happens in summer, we're gonna go work out with him in the summer. It's going to be that friendship, that relationship that we're just gonna continue to build and grow. But whatever they have in the front office with him and coach that doesn't pertain to me.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Mets manager Luis Rojas condemned the behavior of former New York hitting performance coordinator Ryan Ellis on Wednesday but said he never witnessed his longtime co-worker act inappropriately. Ellis was fired last month for sexual harassment.

The Athletic reported Wednesday that in the summer of 2018, three female Mets employees complained to human resources that Ellis, then the minor league hitting coordinator, had directed lewd comments to them in person and via text message.

Ellis, promoted to the big league coaching staff last summer, was fired last month after New York investigated the matter for a second time. His dismissal came shortly after the club fired newly hired general manager Jared Porter for sending sexually explicit, uninvited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 while working for the Chicago Cubs.

Former Mets manager Mickey Callaway, now the pitching coach for the Los Angeles Angels, was suspended this month and is under investigation amid allegations of inappropriate behavior toward several women who work in sports media.

In a statement to The Athletic, New York said it investigated and disciplined Ellis in 2018 but did not terminate his employment. The team said it received new information in January regarding Ellis' behavior in 2017-18 and fired him Jan. 22 for "violating company policy and failure to meet the Mets' standards for professionalism and personal conduct."

"We've set new expectations," Rojas said from the club's spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida. "There's also new avenues added to report cases like this. It's been disappointing. I'm sorry to see it from afar."

Ellis, a former minor league infielder, was hired by the Mets as a minor league coach in 2006. Rojas joined the franchise a year later as manager of its Dominican Summer League team, and both had been with the organization since, spending most of that time in the minor leagues.

Rojas was thrust into the job as New York's manager in January 2020 after Carlos Beltran was fired 77 days into his tenure for his role in the 2017 Houston Astros' cheating scandal. Ellis joined the big league staff for the pandemic-shortened regular season after hitting coach Chili Davis opted out. Ellis was with the team throughout the 60-game season.

"My relationship with Ryan, knowing him for years here in the Mets organization, has been strictly baseball," Rojas said. "That's what we had as far as conversations."

"Those misconducts, they're just unacceptable," he added. "We should have a safe environment to work in, a safe workplace."

Rojas said he's had regular video meetings with his coaching staff this offseason, and Ellis had not been a part of that group because Davis is returning for the 2021 season.

The women who spoke to The Athletic about Ellis described sexually explicit comments made in person and persistent, unwanted text messages that were sexual in nature.

Rojas credited new owner Steve Cohen for responding swiftly to the allegations against Porter and Ellis and pointed to new reporting procedures the team put in place for employees to report illicit behavior, including an external hotline that allows employees to remain anonymous if they prefer.

Major League Baseball has adopted a similar hotline for league and team employees that is also available to non-league employees, such as journalists.

"I'm pretty confident that this type of behavior is something that is going to be unacceptable in this organization," Rojas said. "I'll just leave it at that."

Buster Posey tried to watch every inning of San Francisco Giants baseball that he could last year, but he was busy.

Most of his energy was spent caring for four children, particularly two adopted twin girls who were born eight weeks premature last summer. But he also found a useful way to keep his arm in shape -- by balling diapers up really tight and flinging them at his 9-year-old son, Lee, while he ran for cover.

"You have to really make sure that you have the right weight of the diapers," Posey said after the Giants' first official workout on Wednesday. "Depending on how well they've been feeding, that plays a lot into my accuracy and if it's equivalent to the weight of a baseball. Take all that into account, whatever type of formula they've got, if they're eating baby food or not -- and yeah, I've been pretty accurate."

Posey, who sat out the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season primarily out of concern for his newly adopted daughters, heads into the 2021 season with unfamiliar uncertainty. By Opening Day, he'll be 34 years old, entering his 11th and potentially final season as the Giants' everyday catcher. Posey's $167 million contract includes a $22 million club option for 2022, but the Giants also possess a promising young catcher in Joey Bart, who was drafted second overall in 2018 to someday replace Posey long term.

"Yeah, sure, it's gone through my mind," Posey said of the possibility that this might be his final season with the Giants. "I think, for me, my biggest goal this year is really to -- as cliché as it is -- go one day at a time and try to focus on what needs to be accomplished for that day, whether it's stuff in the weight room or cage work or whatever it may be. And try not to get too far ahead."

The last time Posey was on the field, he was coming off hip surgery and struggling through the 2019 season, ultimately batting .257/.320/.368 with seven homers and 24 doubles in 114 games. In seven prior seasons, he made six All-Star teams, won an MVP Award and batted .308/.378/.466 while averaging 16 homers, 31 doubles and 141 games per year.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler stated in the middle of December that Posey would return as the team's primary catcher in 2021, offering the 24-year-old Bart more time to develop after a trying season in 2020.

Posey had access to Oracle Park when the team wasn't there last summer and utilized the facilities to train routinely. He admitted that it might take him some time to get re-acclimated to live pitching but believes his body is in good enough shape to stand up to the rigors of another season. He missed the competition.

"It's nice," Posey said of returning to play. "It's different. Look at what we're doing right now [conducting an interview over video conference] -- it's not the same. You're still in masks, so that's obviously different as well. There's normalcy, too. There's the normalcy of standing on the foul line and stretching. Playing catch, catching 'pens. Yeah, it's great to be back, and hopefully as this vaccine continues to roll out, we'll be able to all get to experience the game like we're used to."