Today is a milestone of sorts. Certainly not one to get overly excited about but a milestone nonetheless. Exactly 100 days from today the Dodgers will kick off their 2017 season against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.

The traffic will be horrendous, the parking lots will be filled to capacity (and then some) and the lines to enter the stadium will seem endless; but who cares … it’s Opening Day! The real New Year’s Day!

If ever there were an argument for a new national holiday, Opening Day of every baseball season is it.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But there’s still plenty of work to be done between now and 1:10 pm PDT on Monday, April 3, 2017.

With Friday’s announcement that the Dodgers have officially re-signed free agent Justin Turner and with Kenley Jansen‘s re-signing imminent, they still have to figure out who their (so-called) everyday second baseman is going to be. And with on-again/off-again trade rumors over acquiring 29-year-old Twins second baseman Brian Dozier now apparently off again (at least for the moment), it is becoming increasingly likely that the Dodgers Opening Day second baseman will come from within the organization – possibly in the form of Micah Johnson, Rob Segedin, Chris Taylor, Charlie Culberson or perhaps even top second base prospect Willie Calhoun, with the latter two first needing to be added to the Dodgers 40-man roster and then to the 25-man roster before Opening Day.

Additionally, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi have been very clear about their desire to add bullpen depth after losing workhorse right-hander Joe Blanton and fan-favorite J.P. Howell to free agency.

Also of concern, although perhaps more so for Dodger fans than to the Dodgers front office itself, is the need for an additional right-handed power bat (or two) to compliment their very good stable of left-handed power bats in Adrian Gonzalez, Corey Seager, Joc Pederson and Andrew Toles. (This is where Brian Dozier would fit in nicely).

In reality and in spite of the milestone-ish-ness of now being 100 days away from Opening Day, a lot can – and will – happen between now and then, and no one, absolutely no one, can accurately predict what the Dodgers Opening Day roster will look like. And even as the smoke begins to clear up to and through spring training, there will be injuries to content with, especially with the 2017 World Baseball Classic occurring right smack dab in the middle of spring training (again).

While Opening Day 2017 is now officially 100 days out, there is another little tidbit of information that Dodger fans may want to at least begin bracing themselves for. Beginning in 2020, Majestic will no longer be the official uniform of Major League Baseball. That honor will belong to Under Armor (and Fanatics), who recently signed a 10-year agreement to become the official uniform supplier of Major League Baseball. And while there is no disputing that the quality of UA apparel is second to none, fans across the country will soon have to shell out big bucks if they want to continue to wear the exact same jerseys worn by their favorite players. But here again, this agreement doesn’t go into effect until the 2020 season … so there’s that.

Hey, nobody ever said being a Dodger fan was easy, right? It is definitely not for the faint of heart.

…or faint of wallet.

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“There are only two seasons – winter and Baseball. – Bill Veeck