Major League Baseball is back and it’s been an exciting week for the players and fans. With fans having their favorite sport back on television even if they are unable to attend the games, you can always represent your favorite team.

The Phillies, still without a winning season since 2011, have reached the point where the proverbial final pieces -- the expensive veteran stars -- have not only been added but are leaving: catcher J.T. Realmuto is a free agent; starter Jake Arrieta's three-year contract is spent; closer David Robertson's two-year deal -- remember that? -- just expired; and infielder Jean Segura is reportedly coming up in trade talks. The Phillies might still get good, but they're no longer:

Following the summer of games played without fans in the stands, the Phillies recently became the latest team to execute front-office layoffs, reportedly letting go of 80 employees. Middleton noted that there has been a $100 million injection of capital into the team's operations to strengthen its financial position.Detroit Tigers Face Coverings

Instead of crowding into the lobby of the Omni Dallas Hotel and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, where the 2020 winter meetings were scheduled to be held this week, the gatherings will be held virtually. That leaves our collection of baseball reporters to recall winter meetings past, including their favorite blockbuster deals and rumors, moments they'll never forget, what they'll miss (and what they won't) with the meetings being held through computer screens and their favorite untold tales from the lobby.MLB Face Coverings Online Sale

When the A’s got to the Coliseum for work — training for the 2020 MLB season amid the coronavirus pandemic — they each found a face mask decorated in the style of Fiers’ classic whiskers. Susan Slusser of the S.F. Chronicle has all the details. Behold:

Which one is the real Mike Fiers? Only the left-handed glove sets them apart. Photo from Oakland A’s Twitter
Sean Manaea (pictured above, if you couldn’t tell) is already considering wearing a mask during his first start this season. Please let it be this one.Houston Astros Face Coverings

There were clear successes from the farm system: Nola is an ace, Hoskins was a fifth-rounder and is now a middle-of-the-order hitter, and Sixto Sanchez -- now starring for the Marlins -- was converted by trade into superstar catcher Realmuto. But compare that to the young major league stars other teams developed (from drafts, international signings or trades) out of their trough seasons:New York Mets Face Coverings

Alden Gonzalez: I don't know if this is actually it, but I'll go with the Los Angeles Angels signing Albert Pujols in 2011 at least partly because of where I was at the time -- in my early 20s and a month into my first beat, covering, of course, the busiest team of all. The final day of the winter meetings is typically uneventful; the Rule 5 draft takes place in a giant conference room early in the day, then all the executives and reporters rush out of the hotel to catch their flights back home. But it started to feel as if this year's version would be completely different the night before, when word began to spread that the Angels -- with two legitimate first basemen already on their roster -- were serious about signing a man who at that point was still the game's greatest player. The following morning, just before those conference-room doors opened to the media, the Angels landed Pujols with a historic contract. Within the hour, C.J. Wilson agreed as well. On one of the industry's most tedious days, the Angels spent more than $300 million. I might have blacked out.