Chavez, Norris, Newby happy to be back at Spring Training

For Oakland A's pitcher Jesse Chavez, the beginning of Spring Training couldn't have come at a better time.

"I just stayed around the house during the offseason and did yard work," Chavez said. "Really got caught up on stuff I needed to get done, but it was boring."

Certainly nothing a little change of scenery can't fix. Just ask catcher Derek Norris, who is originally from Kansas.

"It's pretty cold … actually really cold in Kansas during the winter," Norris said. "It feels great be in warm weather again."

Norris and Chavez spent the offseason working out in an effort to continue Oakland's success from last season. But every once in a while there's something else players have to shift their focus to.

"I got married in November," said pitching prospect Kyler Newby, acquired in a trade from Baltimore last year. "We went up to Las Vegas to visit family and celebrate."

-- Pearce Bley / Contributor to MLB.com

This post is part of a Cactus League partnership between MLB.com and Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.