When Xander Bogaerts arrived at spring training one year ago, he was informed his new position was second base.

This year, Bogaerts will be back at his familiar shortstop when the San Diego Padres open spring training later this month in Peoria, Ariz.

Jake Cronenworth also will be moving back to second base after being the team's primary first baseman last year.

The moves come after stellar defensive shortstop Ha-Seong Kim signed with the Tampa Bay Rays. Kim won a Gold Glove award in 2023 for his play at three infield positions.

"Once it looked like Kimmy was not going to be able to come back ... the way the team was getting built, it looked like it was an opportunity for Bogey to play short," Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters Saturday. "So I had a great conversation with Bogey probably a month ago. He had already had his head around wanting it and training to go back and play shortstop. He was very enthusiastic about it."

Bogaerts spent his first nine-plus seasons with the Boston Red Sox and was a fixture at shortstop. He never won a Gold Glove, but he committed 10 or fewer errors six times.

He joined the Padres as a free agent prior to the 2023 season and committed just eight errors in 146 games during his first year.

But with it clear that Kim was the best defensive infielder on the roster, the two traded positions last spring and Bogaerts moved to second base. The four-time All-Star made six errors in 85 games at the position but never seemed to be a true fit.

Cronenworth, meanwhile, excelled at second base in 2022, when he made four errors in 147 games (142 starts) at the position. He started 80 games at first base last season and 66 at second. Cronenworth got many of his starts at second with Bogaerts sidelined due to a fractured left shoulder.

Cronenworth, a two-time All-Star, said he likes having the roles defined.

"Not just for me, but for everybody, it gives us clarity for where we're going to be and how we can prepare," Cronenworth said. "It's the same guys coming back. Maybe in a couple different spots, but we have a great infield."

Bogaerts played shortstop late in the regular season and in the postseason after Kim sustained a season-ending shoulder injury. Cronenworth moved to second base during the same time period.

LOS ANGELES -- Shohei Ohtani said he is "on schedule" in his attempt to return as a two-way player this season, despite what he described as a "complicated surgery" to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

Ohtani, who spoke at the Los Angeles Dodgers' annual preseason fan event on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, initially injured his non-throwing shoulder while sliding in Game 2 of the World Series, then played the next three games and underwent surgery on Nov. 5, six days after helping to deliver a championship.

The torn labrum added another layer of complication to a pitching rehab that already consisted of a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament, but the Dodgers expect Ohtani to hit by the start of the season -- they'll open in Japan on March 18 -- and pitch in their rotation by May.

"And it might be earlier," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Ohtani, who underwent his most recent elbow surgery in September 2023, threw multiple bullpen sessions before the Dodgers' postseason run last fall and started playing catch again in December. But he has yet to throw off a mound this offseason, which makes it difficult to pinpoint a return to pitching.

"I think the biggest determinant is going to be when I first pitch my bullpen," Ohtani said through an interpreter. "Then I think we're going to really get a feel for when I'll be able to be on a big league mound."

When he does, Ohtani will join arguably the deepest, most talented rotation in the sport. And before then, he'll lead arguably the deepest, most talented lineup in the sport.

His presence now symbolizes the Dodgers' elevation into another financial stratosphere.

Since signing Ohtani to a highly deferred 10-year, $700 million contract in December 2023, the Dodgers have added practically every player they've wanted. Two front-of-the-rotation starters, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and a slugging corner outfielder, Teoscar Hernandez, joined within four weeks of Ohtani's deal.

This offseason, after securing their first full-season title since 1988, the Dodgers signed starter Blake Snell, extended utility man Tommy Edman, brought back Hernandez, added outfielder Michael Conforto, struck a deal with infielder Hyeseong Kim, convinced pitching prodigy Roki Sasaki to join them and inked Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to round out what was already a deep bullpen.

"The crazy part is you're thinking like, once we sign someone, 'OK, that's it.' Then we sign another guy and it's like, 'OK that's it.' And it just keeps going," Snell said. "To see how invested they are in us winning, investing in the best team they can possibly assemble, it's pretty special."

A winter that saw the Dodgers splurge for more than $1.2 billion was followed by them committing nearly $450 million on seven players, with longtime ace Clayton Kershaw and popular utility man Enrique Hernandez still expected to be added at some point. Their 2025 competitive-balance-tax payroll projects to $380 million, according to Spotrac, well above the highest luxury tax threshold and roughly $80 million more than the second-place Philadelphia Phillies.

Glasnow likened the 2025 Dodgers to "The Avengers," but baseball fans in other cities -- and some executives of other teams -- have come to view them more by the popular designation given to star-studded New York Yankees teams of the 2000s: "The Evil Empire."

Roberts says he believes the proverbial villain role is one his players will have to "embrace," but at this point, with only 10 days left before the start of spring training, it's mostly just being dismissed.

"If any other teams or fan bases want to get upset, you know what to do -- follow what the Dodgers are doing," Snell said.

"It is what it is," added Mookie Betts, who expects to transition full time to shortstop this season. "What are we supposed to do? We want to win. And as a player, of course we want all the best players."

Any anger the Dodgers' spending has triggered outside of L.A. has been met with fervent excitement from their own fans.

Saturday's event offered another prominent example.

The Dodgers couldn't host this year's Fan Fest inside their ballpark due to a massive, ongoing renovation project that will enhance both clubhouse spaces. Instead, they hosted fans in various Dodger Stadium parking-lot areas and nonetheless drew a capacity crowd of about 25,000. At one point, Freddie Freeman signed an image of his iconic, walk-off World Series moment that was tattooed onto a man's leg. It was at least the second time he'd come across that this offseason.

"It takes you back and makes you realize that sports means so much to people," Freeman said. "You know when you're out there playing and the fans are going nuts, you feel that. But then when you come into personal contact with these fans and they tell you how much it means to them, and then they show you how much it means to them, it's actually really cool. And I think it's so amazing that people would go through the pain of putting me on their body."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- When Ken Griffey Jr.'s baseball-star father struggled to get through to the talented teen, Rickey Henderson somehow could.

The younger Griffey, who considers himself fortunate to have roamed the New York Yankees clubhouse and hit on their field alongside so many all-time greats, made sure to listen and learn.

"I was 15 years old when I met Rickey, and he accepted me in the locker room along with Dave [Winfield] and a couple other guys," Griffey said. "When they talk about it takes a village to raise a kid, I'm thankful for Rickey and Dave and everybody else who raised me."

Henderson died Dec. 20 at age 65 shortly before his Christmas birthday. He was celebrated by former teammates, executives, friends and fans Saturday at the arena next to the Oakland Coliseum where he played for so many years and, later, had a field named for him.

From Dusty Baker, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre to ex-teammates Jose Canseco, Carney Lansford, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Stewart and Winfield, Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson and Frank Thomas and home run king Barry Bonds, nearly 3,000 people made their way through steady Bay Area rain to honor the one-of-a-kind Hall of Famer.

MC Hammer and wife, Stephanie, performed the Oakland rapper's tune "Goin' up Yonder."

Another Oakland star, Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton, credited Henderson for inspiring his success, albeit in another sport.

"It came from him. It came from me looking at him," Payton said. "That man right here, that is Oakland: Rickey Henderson."

Former Athletics general manager Sandy Alderson recalled how most conversations with Henderson began with the brazen base stealer "telling me bluntly, 'Rickey needs a new contract.'"

"I'm only one executive who could tell you Rickey could be a pain in the neck," Alderson said.

But he also watched Henderson as a fan, admiring someone because "he was unique in his talents, his charismatic flair and his special hometown history."

"On Dec. 20, 2024, you all and we all lost a little bit of our childhood," Alderson said.

When Stewart won MVP honors after the earthquake-interrupted 1989 World Series in which the A's swept the San Francisco Giants, Henderson had a little fun with his close pal.

Henderson had hit .474 with a home run, two triples, a double, three RBIs and three stolen bases over those four games.

"We were talking and whispering in each other's ears, you saw we were always pretty much close to each other when we were in uniform," Stewart said. "And Rickey, when I was announced as the MVP, and I think he was shocked as he probably should have been because he did hit almost .500, but he briefly whispered in my ear, he said, 'You know, if you was not there in the community helping all those people, you wouldn't have gotten that award.'"

For Griffey, Henderson's care and attention to detail meant the world as the slugger began on his path and dreamed big in what would ultimately be his own Hall of Fame career.

One spring training day in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when the veterans were doing their late work, Griffey was shagging balls for the big leaguers. Henderson always said hi on Day 1, and paid attention to Griffey's progress.

"We'd go on the back field and Rickey would hit balls to me, and I'm wondering, 'Why is he only hitting them to me?'" Griffey said. "Found out that he said, he told my dad later on, 'He's got a special talent. I just want to see how far he can go.' I am 15 years old. ... Rickey was like a brother, an older brother, an uncle, and sometimes I think that he was thinking that he was my damn dad, too."

Watch highlights as Ireland score three tries in a dominant second-half display as they launched their bid for an unprecedented third successive Six Nations title with a bonus-point victory over England in Dublin.

READ MORE: Holders Ireland seal bonus-point win over England

Watch highlights on Six Nations Rugby Special on BBC iPlayer.

Available to UK users only.

Ireland: Keenan; Hansen, Ringrose, Aki, Lowe; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; Porter, Kelleher, Bealham, Ryan, Beirne, Baird, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).

Replacements: Sheehan, Healy, Clarkson, Henderson, Conan, Murray, Crowley, Henshaw.

England: Steward; Freeman, Lawrence, Slade, Murley; M Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Stuart, Itoje (capt), Martin, T Curry, B Curry, Earl.

Replacements: Dan, Baxter, Heyes, Chessum, Cunningham-South, Willis, Randall, F Smith

Sin bin: M Smith (25)

Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)

Touch judges: James Doleman (New Zealand) & Hollie Davidson (Scotland)

TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Amid the scars left by a life in the second row, Steve Borthwick has a good poker face.

He doesn't have many tells, keeping his emotions under tight rein and his thoughts to himself.

But Tuesday was no bluff.

By naming his team two days early, Borthwick put his cards on the table and challenged Ireland to prove him wrong.

England stuck with Marcus Smith at fly-half and Freddie Steward at full-back, picked debutant Cadan Murley on the wing and bet the house on a back row of Ben Earl, Tom Curry and his twin brother Ben.

The selection was a statement of intent; to win the air, to sap Ireland's speed with a nuisance ground game and throw a defensive blanket over their attack.

For 40 minutes, Borthwick's plan paid out.

England scored the opening try early as Smith ran back a kick, Ollie Lawrence busted a hole and Henry Slade's cute grubber put the ball on a platter for Murley.

Earl and the Twindaloo Sale fans' nickname for the Curry brothers were causing Ireland's attack indigestion.

They steamed into the breakdown, slowing the ball as potential attackers were drawn in to secure the supply lines.

The defence was up flat and fast, scattering Ireland's attacking patterns. And by shortening the line-out a potential area of weakness - they thinned out Ireland's thicket of jumpers.

New skipper Maro Itoje showed his captaincy smarts, making sure that Ben O'Keeffe saw and heard the sly hold that Tadhg Beirne had of his leg, leaving the referee no option but to chalk off an Ireland try.

It was promising.

Having trailed at the break in every Six Nations match last year, England reached 40 minutes five ahead.

It could have been even better.

They were hobbled by Smith's sin-binning for 10 minutes.

After some courageous defence it was only on the last passage of that power-play that Ireland managed to score, as James Lowe shrugged off Alex Mitchell like a wet cagoule to put in Jamison Gibson Park.

The Aviva jangled with nerves at the interval.

Memories of 2019, when an unfancied England side plotted the perfect opening-day heist to derail Ireland, suddenly seemed more vivid.

By full-time though they, like England, had disintegrated.

The injury-plagued Dallas Stars are loading up with reinforcements, acquiring forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Cody Ceci from the San Jose Sharks on Saturday in exchange for a 2025 first-round draft choice and 2025 fourth-round selection.

The fourth-round pick becomes a third-round choice if Dallas advances to the Stanley Cup Final.

Granlund and Ceci were pending unrestricted free agents and tapped as ideal rental players ahead of the NHL's March 7 trade deadline. Dallas needs the helps now, anyway: The Stars' top defenseman, Miro Heiskanen, is out for several weeks with a knee issue, Nils Lundqvist just had season-ending shoulder surgery, and Tyler Seguin has been on the shelf since December and isn't expected to be back until the playoffs. Mason Marchment has also missed extensive time with an injury, although he is closing in on a return.

Ceci is a veteran, right-shot blueliner who can plug in almost anywhere for Dallas coach Pete DeBoer. He can handle a heavy workload if needed and eat up minutes on the penalty kill. For now, at least, that's what the Stars need to patch up the holes on their backend until Heiskanen can get healthy.

Dallas should get a boost up front from Granlund. The 32-year-old is having a strong season with 15 goals and 45 points in 52 games. He paced San Jose in short-handed minutes and on the power play while also actively contributing at 5-on-5. Granlund's versatility will be a valuable asset for DeBoer as he navigates the Stars' injury woes.

"We see both players as addressing immediate needs for our team," Dallas general manager Jim Nill said. "Mikael is a proven scorer who will bolster our forward group at both even strength and on the power play, and Cody will add a stabilizing and physical presence to our blueline. Both players will bring valuable postseason experience to our group, and we are looking forward to seeing their contributions to the Stars as the season continues."

Meanwhile, San Jose remains in rebuilding mode and is smartly collecting assets it can use to build a foundation for the future.

"In a perfect world, I maybe would've held on to Granny and Cece closer to the deadline so our group could have them for a little bit longer," Sharks GM Mike Grier said, referring to trading Mackenzie Blackwood in December ahead of schedule to Colorado in a similar vein. "But it doesn't always work out that way and the market just kind of heated up over the last week. We kind of took advantage of the opportunity that came my way."

Grier is likely to remain active before and after the NHL breaks mid-month for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

SUNRISE, Fla. -- After seven seconds: Chicago 1, Florida 0.

After 60 minutes: Florida 5, Chicago 1.

Landon Slaggert got himself a piece of Blackhawks history Saturday, scoring seven seconds into the team's game at the Panthers -- the fastest goal to start a game ever for the Blackhawks, according to the NHL record book.

"That's pretty wild," Slaggert said.

But Florida equalized 5 minutes later, took the lead for good 5 minutes after that and coasted to a 5-1 win.

The Blackhawks became the first team in NHL history to score within the first eight seconds of a game and then not score another goal after that, according to ESPN Research.

Sam Reinhart got his 30th goal of the season and added two assists, and Matthew Tkachuk scored for the third time in the past four games for Florida.

Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues and Jonah Gadjovich also scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots for the Panthers, who ensured they would remain atop the Atlantic Division.

The win was the 900th regular-season victory as a coach for Florida's Paul Maurice, who is the fourth to hit that milestone. The others: Scotty Bowman (1,244), Joel Quenneville (969) and Barry Trotz (914).

"It's never a good feeling," Florida's Carter Verhaeghe said of giving up the quick goal. "But we kind of just reset from there and played it like a normal game."

The previous Blackhawks record for fastest goal was set by Brent Sutter, who scored eight seconds into Chicago's 9-4 win over Vancouver on Feb. 5, 1995.

Slaggert's score was the fastest goal to start a game in the NHL this season, edging a goal at the nine-second mark by St. Louis' Robert Thomas against New Jersey on Nov. 27.

Ryan Donato won the opening faceoff, then played the puck into the Florida zone. Slaggert -- getting his second goal in just his third game of the season -- skated past two Panthers defenders, collected the puck and beat Bobrovsky with a backhander.

It was the fastest goal allowed at the start of a game in Florida history, three seconds quicker than Mike Knuble's score for Boston against the Panthers on Feb. 14, 2003. And Donato quickly realized that the goal might be historic for Chicago.

"He was saying in the little pile there that it might be the fastest," Slaggert said. "It's kind of funny to hear."

Only seven regular-season goals have been scored more quickly in NHL history, the most recent of those being a goal six seconds into a game by Vancouver's Alexandre Burrows in what became a 5-2 loss to Detroit on March 16, 2013.

There have been four goals scored five seconds into games -- those by Merlyn Phillips of the Montreal Maroons on Dec. 29, 1926, Doug Smail of the Winnipeg Jets on Dec, 20, 1981, Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders on March 22, 1984, and Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 21, 1991.

Three goals have been scored at the six-second mark: Burrows had one, while Henry Boucha of the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 28, 1973 and Jean Pronovost of the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 25, 1976 had the others.

Slaggert's goal is the eighth scored at the :07 mark of the first period, the NHL said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Finland ruled out Jani Hakanpaa for the 4 Nations Face-Off, making management find replacements for two injured defensemen.

The Finnish Ice Hockey Federation confirmed Saturday that Hakanpää will not play in the NHL-run tournament later this month in Montreal and Boston. Hakanpää has appeared in only two games this season for Toronto and none since mid-November because of a lower-body injury.

Miro Heiskanen would have been Finland's No. 1 defenseman, but he was injured on a hit by Mark Stone in Dallas' game against Vegas on Tuesday night. The Stars listed Heiskanen as week to week with a lower-body injury, and Finland acknowledged he won't be playing 4 Nations.

"He's that type of player that any team in the world would love to have," captain Aleksander Barkov said Thursday of Heiskanen. "He is a leader defensively and really good offensively, so he's a huge part of Team Finland's success. ... All the best and try and get back as soon as possible and as healthy as possible. Health is the most important thing."

General manager Jere Lehtinen, who built Finland's roster that won Olympic gold in Beijing in 2022 when the NHL pulled out late because of pandemic-related scheduling reasons, said replacements would be named next week for Heiskanen and Hakanpää. There are only four eligible players to choose from for the two spots; only 11 Finnish defensemen have played in the league this season.

Buffalo's Henri Jokiharju, Ottawa's Nikolas Matinpalo, Winnipeg's Ville Heinola and the New York Rangers' Urho Vaakanainen are the possible replacements. Jokiharju and Vaakanainen, who was traded from Anaheim to New York in December, have the most professional experience of the four.

Finland opens Feb. 13 against the U.S., plays rival Sweden on Feb. 15 and finishes round-robin play Feb. 17 against Canada.

Sweden also has a few injury situations to monitor. Vegas' William Karlsson and Minnesota's Jonas Brodin remain out, and Boston's Hampus Lindholm is close to returning from his absence. Canada must still name a replacement for two-time Stanley Cup champion and 2014 Olympic gold medalist Alex Pietrangelo, who withdrew "to tend to an ailment and prepare for the remainder of the regular season," the Golden Knights said.