Dodgers start race to Opening Day with questions

It’s settled — let the multi-tasking begin.

For 99 days, Major League Baseball lay (for the most part) idle. The players were locked out by the owners, rosters were frozen and frustrated fans were left to roll their eyes as the two sides argued over how to slice up an $11 billion pie.

With a new collective bargaining agreement negotiated, baseball can finally kick back into gear with teams like the Dodgers racing to finish off their rosters even as they get back on the field and prepare for a slightly delayed start to the 2022 season.

Here’s what you need to know — and what the Dodgers need to do — as baseball returns.

WHAT DOES THE NEW SCHEDULE LOOK LIKE? » The Dodgers’ players will report to Glendale, Arizona, by Sunday — roughly four weeks later than usual – though many have already been working out in Mesa at the camp set up by the players’ union. Some players coming from out of the United States might be delayed by visa issues. Teams will have 25 days to get ready for a rescheduled Opening Day.

Cactus League games are expected to start as soon as next Thursday. Details of that schedule have not been released but the traditional three-game Freeway Series between the Dodgers and Angels in Southern California is likely to be a casualty of the compressed spring.

WHAT ABOUT THE GOOD STUFF? » Teams were allowed to begin signing free agents and making trades again as soon as the MLB owners ratified the new CBA on Thursday.

The Dodgers have three notable free agents — pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Kenley Jansen and Joe Kelly. They have an interest in resigning all three but that probably won’t happen. A reunion with Kershaw

is the most likely.

Approximately 300 players remain free agents with a third of those likely to land major-league deals in the signing frenzy as teams try to fill the holes in their rosters. The Dodgers have needs for starting pitchers, a left-handed bat and bench help they have been unable to address during the lockout.

The most attractive free agents still available include shortstop Carlos Correa, third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant, third baseman/ outfielder Nick Castellanos, shortstop Trevor Story, pitcher Carlos Rodon — and first baseman Freddie Freeman.

There have been scattered reports about the level of disenchantment Freeman might be feeling toward the Atlanta Braves, who failed to lock up the 32-year-old franchise player with a contract extension before the lockout. He would be a perfect fit for the Dodgers, whose lineup leans heavily to the right (Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Justin Turner, Will Smith, AJ Pollock) with Corey Seager’s departure and the uncertainty surrounding Max Muncy’s injured elbow.

HOW WILL THE NEW RULES AFFECT THE DODGERS? » The two most significant changes are the adoption of the DH by the National League and the expansion of the playoffs to 12 teams.

Coming off their 106-win season last year, a lot of things would have to go pretty wrong for the Dodgers to need that extra wild card to get back into the postseason.

The DH would allow them to rotate players like Justin Turner and Pollock through the position, freeing up playing time for super-utility player Chris Taylor or add another bat (such as Freeman or fellow free agent Kyle Schwarber) to their lineup. Additional rules changes — a pitch clock, bigger bases and limitations on defensive shifts – are expected for the 2023 season.