Snyder's Soapbox: Spring training results don't mean much, but we can and should enjoy the games all the same

There's simply no reason to be that guy who yells at the people who like spring training action

Welcome to Snyder's Soapbox! Here I pontificate about a matter related to Major League Baseball on a weekly basis. Some of the topics will be pressing matters, some might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things and most will be somewhere in between. The good thing about this website is it's free and you are allowed to click away. If you stay, you'll get smarter, though, that's a money-back guarantee. Let's get to it.

Spring training is fun. It's time for players to prepare for the season that actually matters, unlike these exhibition games. Just get up to speed for the regular season and don't get hurt, please. As for fans, there's a sweet spot for us to not take it too seriously and instead just enjoy it for what it is. As always here on the Soapbox, I'll explain. 

Late in spring training of 2016, I got a text message from a friend of my dad's who is also a die-hard Cubs fan (hi, readers who are new here! I'm a Cubs fan and and it hasn't ever been a secret). He wondered if there was any reason for concern with the woeful W-L record the Cubs were posting in spring training. I told him no, there was absolutely no reason to worry. 

The Cubs would end up going 11-19 that spring. Then they won 25 of their first 31 regular-season games en route to a 103-win regular season and World Series title. 

So, no, there was no reason for concern, as I correctly noted during the spring. There never is in the spring unless there are major injuries. It is practice. Some players are looking to perform their best in order to make the team, but some veterans are just getting in their work before hitting the golf course. There are youngsters out there looking to make their mark and old guys working on a tweak. 

Back in 2014, Edwin Jackson threw 50 pitches in a spring game and every single one was a fastball. He was working on fastball command that day, a perfect illustration of how -- in the parlance of Allen Iverson -- we're talking about practice, man. 

In these practice games, we're going to see the best players make some good plays. We're also going to see bad from good players and good from players we might never see in the majors. It's all over the board. Obviously, that means the team performances just don't mean anything at all. Just look at last year. 

• The Cardinals were 17-7 in the spring and then finished last in the NL Central. 
• The Marlins were a Grapefruit League worst 7-16 and then made the playoffs for the first time in a full season since 2003.
• The Rangers were 13-15 in Cactus League action and then started the regular season 14-7. Oh, and they won the World Series. 
• Which two teams had the best record in the Cactus League? Why, the Angels and Royals, of course. Everyone knew that, right? 

You can find good teams that played well and bad teams that played poorly, too. It's just all over the board with no correlation to regular-season performance. The same goes for individual performances. 

The top five in spring OPS last year included Corbin Carroll and Corey Seager. The other three? Blake Sabol, Ezequiel Duran and Robbie Grossman. The spring leader in home runs was Matt Olson! The next two were Mike Brosseau and Romy Gonzalez. Marcus Semien was in the bottom five in OPS. Once the games mattered, he was good enough to finish third in MVP voting. 

Needless to say, I don't pay any attention at all to spring performance on the team level or really on a player level either. Sometimes it can be instructive to what how a player looks when he's coming off major injury. It's always interesting to follow a would-be rookie and see him play well (such as Wyatt Langford of the Rangers last weekend). 

Generally, though, you don't want to be the person worried about spring training numbers when drafting a fantasy team, making predictions or placing wagers on the season to come. It just doesn't translate and never has. 

Of course, there's a balance to be had here and I want to be clear. I absolutely loathe the person who tells others what they are allowed to enjoy. I am not saying to ignore spring training. Going to a spring training game is much more affordable than the regular season, generally speaking (there are always exceptions and circumstances). It is great fun. Most of the time you'll get great weather and a good number of players will cycle through the game. You'll see a mix of big-leaguers and unproven youngsters. You can socialize instead of paying attention to every single pitch and sometimes it's more fun to just kick back and mindlessly enjoy things. 

If you've ever gone to minor-league games, I find it similar other than the setting (since I'm from the Midwest, I don't exactly see palm trees or cactuses at minor-league parks, for example). 

Watching spring training action on TV, I find focusing too much on every intricate detail like we do in the regular season (pitch velocity, exit velocity, etc.) is overkill, especially since these are practice games. BUT! Some people really like worrying about that when they are watching any game. There's no harm in a to each his/her/their own stance. That's one of the core tenets of my personality here in my middle-aged years. 

By all means, please enjoy the ever-living hell out of the spring training action. I'm absolutely not saying you can't or shouldn't. I wouldn't do that. I'm just saying to please keep in mind that the results of what you are watching just don't have any bearing on the regular season and/or playoffs. If anything, this should help you enjoy it even more. Remove the stress and just have fun spectating.