Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki will have surgery Monday to remove bone spurs from both heels and is expected to miss eight weeks, general manager Ross Atkins said Friday.

The bone spurs have bothered Tulowitzki during his recovery from surgery to repair the ligament damage suffered when he stepped on C.J. Cron's foot while trying to beat out an infield hit in a game last July against the Angels. 

The free agent market moved very slowly this offseason and Major League salaries increased just one percent from 2017.

That doesn't even amount to a cost of living bump in what turned out to be a depressed market.

The average salary for a Major League player is $4.52 million, up from $4.47 million last year.

A record 130 players will earn $10 million or more, compared to 124 such players a year ago.

George Springer made Major League history on Thursday when he led off the season for the Houston Astros with a home run off Cole Hamels of the Texas Rangers.

It was the first-ever leadoff home run for a defending World Series champion, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Springer is also the only player ever to hit a leadoff home run on Opening Day in consecutive years.

"It feels great. It's a good way to start our season," he said. "To hop on the board and get the first one out of the way for us, it's a good day to be an Astro."

Shohei Ohtani singled on the first Major League pitch he saw on Opening Day.

He went 1-for-5 as a designated hitter, batting eighth, with three pulled ball groundouts and a swinging strikeout in the Los Angeles Angels' loss to the Oakland Athletics.

"I had some good at-bats, and some not so good at-bats," Ohtani said through his translator. "That (first) at-bat, I'm probably never going to forget the rest of my life.

"Now I have to have better at-bats to help the team."

Ohtani will make his pitching debut on Sunday.

The St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to a one-year, $14 million deal with Greg Holland.

Holland saved 41 games for the Colorado Rockies last season and then declined a $15 million option for 2018.

The right-hander was lights out in the first half, but struggled after the All-Star break, converting 13 of 16 save chances with a 6.38 ERA.

The Tampa Bay Rays had planned to open the season with a four-man rotation, but news of an injury to Nathan Eovaldi has changed those plans.

Eovaldi is headed for arthroscopic surgery this week to remove "loose bodies" from his right elbow.

The Rays now plan to begin the season with Chris Archer, Blake Snell and Jake Faria as starters. For now, they plan to stick with those three and fill in gaps with a combination of relievers with a fourth and fifth starter is needed.

The Kansas City Royals will be without Salvador Perez for up to six weeks after he sprained the MCL in his left knee while carrying a suitcase up some stairs in his home.

Perez suffered the injury on Tuesday night when the Royals returned home from spring training.

He won't require surgery and could be ready to return in as little as four weeks.

"All the work I do, training in the offseason, I feel sad," Perez said.

Ned Yost expects Drew Butera and Cam Gallagher to share catching duties in Perez's place.

Talks between the Minnesota Twins and Brian Dozier on a contract extension have broken down, according to sources.

Dozier doesn't plan to discuss a deal with the club and will now become a free agent in November.

Only 10 players have more home runs than Dozier since 2014.

Dozier will be part of a free agent class that includes Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Dallas Keuchel, Craig Kimbrel, Charlie Blackmon, Andrew Miller, Daniel Murphy, Cody Allen, Adam Jones and Andrew McCutchen.

Laurence Leavy, better known as Marlins Man, said he couldn't come to terms with the Miami Marlins and will not be paying for tickets for the team's games for the first time in 25 years.

The only games he plans to attend are the Yankees-Marlins series at Yankee Stadium.

Leavy says he's considering keeping the orange jersey he wears but taking the Marlins logo off of it. He said he'll also consider wearing the jersey of another interested team that would be more appreciative of him.

"Four teams reached out to me already and said that I could become, like, the Tigers man or other teams, and they would be happy to sell me tickets on TV view for three years paid in advance with a substantial discount," he said.

Leavy is known for wearing his bright orange Marlins jersey in the view of television cameras at major sporting events.

It doesn't appear as though the Cleveland Indians will agree to extensions with Francisco Lindor or Trevor Bauer before Opening Day.

They have tried, but no common ground have been found. Bauer and Lindor are under contract for three and four more years, respectively.

There is plenty of time for the Indians to lock the players up, but the market this offseason has been an odd one.

Lindor reportedly turned down a $100 million extension.