The lockout is over. Here's what to expect this weekend at Texas Rangers spring training

Start with chaos and sprinkle in some significant unknowns, but also add in big-league players and the promise of a full 2022 season.

Baseball is back, with the MLB lockout ending Thursday, and that’s reason enough to high-five someone (The Associated Press/Brandon Wade).

SURPRISE, Ariz. — The madness has begun.

Correction: The post-lockout madness has begun. The lockout saga was madness all along.

It’s all good now, though, after the owners and players came to their senses Thursday and reached a new collective bargaining agreement that ensures a 162-game season. The deal was ratified at 5 p.m. CST, and the lockout ended.

The Texas Rangers have been bracing for the impending frenzy across baseball.

They were free to engage with their players Thursday evening for the first time since Dec. 1. Those players could begin arriving to the Surprise Recreation Campus as soon as Friday.

And, then, there’s free agency. That opened Thursday, too.

Buckle up. Baseball is on a super speedway it has never traveled.