With spring training officially underway this week across Arizona and Florida, there is no shortage of baseball stories afoot. Here are a few Dodgers-related items to start your Tuesday morning.

In addition to the Dodgers bringing back Farhan Zaidi to the front office, Andrew Friedman praising Kiké Hernández’s leadership, and Shota Imanaga slated to start for the Cubs against the Dodgers in Tokyo, that is.

In Ken Rosenthal’s notes column at The Athletic, he had this quote from Ryan Brasier, who was traded by the Dodgers to the Cubs on February 4: “I was surprised, but I get it. I’ve been around long enough where I understand they’ve got to make decisions. You don’t always have to like ‘em or agree with ‘em. But I ended up in a good spot. There are a lot of other places that I wouldn’t have been as excited about it.”

Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register wrote about the Dodgers’ quest to be the first repeat champion in Major League Baseball in 25 years.

Bob Nightengale at USA Today praised the Dodgers as winners this offseason and quipped, “The Dodgers’ toughest task of the spring will be setting aside time to get their fingers sized for their 2025 World Series rings.”

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Grant Brisbee at The Athletic caught folks up on the offseason, including this on Roki Sasaki signing with the Dodgers: “It would appear that Sasaki values things like ‘winning’ and ‘feeling comfortable’ instead of the things he should have prioritized, like ‘appealing to the quirks of baseball nerds” and ‘seeing what Minneapolis is all about.’”

Longtime Associated Press reporter Jim Becker died Friday at age 98. His obituary, written by Audrey McAvoy at AP, included this about Becker at age 20 covering Jackie Robinson’s debut with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947:

Becker, who was just 20 at the time, got quotes from Robinson in the clubhouse and ran them up to the AP staffer writing the story. Becker, in an interview for this obituary, recalled seeing Robinson emerge from the first base dugout and begin to play catch with a player who unbeknownst to Robinson had signed the petition.

“And I thought, he’s carrying the banner of decency and dignity and fair play and the American promise,” Becker said. “He’s carrying it for all of us in this room, in a stadium … And I thought, he’s carrying it alone.”