As ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan tells us, spring training should be about hope and new beginnings. Relaying the smell of freshly cut grass, enjoying the Florida or Arizona sunlight, hearing the crack of the bat and the slap of the leather.

But for Major League Baseball, there are still a number of issues that have caught people’s attention, and none of them relate to position battles, or players making debuts with new teams.

The Athletics are still trying to find their way to Las Vegas, and with the city of Oakland less than enamored with them, they don’t even have a clear home beyond this season. Commissioner Rob Manfred has announced that he wants to retire in five years time, but first he wants to make sure that the league is ready to grow through expansion.

And there are concerns about the new uniforms that players will be sporting this season, and how much they - ahem - reveal.

So today, Passan tells us where the league is on all of these issues, and helps us clear the way for talk about baseball, on the field.

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Jeff Passan Explains MLB’s Off the Field Challenges