Put on your baseball caps and buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks, because the start of the 2017 Major League Baseball season is right around the corner.

Local Bay Area teams, the A’s and Giants, are gearing up for an action-packed season starting this week with Spring Training.

Both the A’s and Giants will reside in Arizona for the time being, with the A’s in Mesa and the Giants in Scottsdale. San Francisco held its first team workouts yesterday, while Oakland will begin today. Spring Training exhibition games will commence on the last weekend of February and run through the end of March. 

This is undoubtedly a very exciting and hopeful time for fan bases on both sides of the bay. The A’s recently introduced new ownership that will hopefully lift the team to new heights, while the Giants have shored up a major weakness from last season with the signing of three time All-Star closer Mark Melancon.

The Giants left much of their fan base in disappointment toward the end of last season after failing to catch “even year fever”. Their season came to an end with a heartbreaking loss to the Cubs in Game 4 of the Division Series, after the team blew yet another late lead. 

But the addition of Melancon instantly changes the entire dynamic of the San Francisco bullpen. For a group that blew a MLB-high 32 saves last season, many of the Giants relievers were not being put in positions to succeed. Acquiring a shutdown closer definitely helps place the rest of the bullpen move into more comfortable and appropriate roles. 

The only other notable offseason move the Giants made was brining in former Colorado Rockies catcher Nick Hundley on a one year deal. He will act as the primary backup catcher for Buster Posey. 

Right fielder Hunter Pence is expected to come back strong after missing the majority of last season because of a hamstring injury. Even though he missed 61 regular season games, Pence still managed to finish with 57 RBI and 13 home runs, while batting .289.

San Francisco will once again boast an incredibly talented starting rotation, with aces Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto leading the way, along with Jeff Samarzidja and Matt Moore.

Brandon Belt, Joe Panik, and Brandon Crawford will make up one of the best defensive infields in the league. 

These core players have been with the Giants for years, and have proved themselves to both their coaches and the Giants organization as a whole, by always putting in their best work on and off the diamond.

The buzz surrounding the A’s organization is something that hasn’t been felt in quite a few years. With former co-owner John Fisher now taking over full ownership duties after the exit of Lew Wolff, this move should be a step in the right direction after a stagnant few years.

Additionally, the A’s have a new president, Dave Kaval, who is highly motivated to making sure the team stays in Oakland. 

During a recent appearance at the team’s annual fan fest, Kaval guaranteed that the team will announce plans for a new stadium in Oakland, as well as a timeline for the construction, at some point in 2017. 

This is fantastic news for a long suffering fan base that has not being treated so well in recent years.

The potential stadium sites include Howard Terminal, an old shipping yard in the Port of Oakland near Jack London Square, areas around Lake Merrit in downtown Oakland, and the current Coliseum property that housed the team since 1968. 

On the field, the A’s are looking bounce back from a pair of dismal seasons in which the team lost more than 90 games and finished last in the American League West. 

In the offseason, they signed former Giants closer Santiago Casilla. He will join an already talented bullpen that finished as one of the best in the league a year ago. 

Like their cross-bay rivals, the A’s will lean on an exciting, young starting rotation to lead them to victory. Sonny Gray and Kendall Graveman have each shown glimpses of stardom in the past, while young guns Jharel Cotton and Sean Manaea each burst onto the scene in the latter part of last season.

The offense will be anchored by slugger Khirs Davis, who mashed 42 home runs last year. Fan favorites Marcus Semien, and Stephen Vogt will also be depended on to ignite the offense.

Both teams enter Spring Training strong with their eyes on the ultimate prize. Could this be the year for another Bay Area World Series? The next few months will tell.