Tim Lincecum thought about the seismic shifts of baseball’s offseason, the ones that saw Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder migrate to the American League.

“I think it’s great,” San Francisco’s two-time Cy Young Award winner joked. “I won’t have to pitch to them anymore.”

Just 106 days after the surprising St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series, baseball returns this weekend when pitchers and catchers for the Seattle Mariners report to spring training in Peoria, Ariz.

There’s been a whole lot of change since the Texas Rangers’ David Murphy flied out to Allen Craig for the final out of the seven-game Series thriller.

Tony La Russa is gone. Bobby Valentine is back.

And no switch was bigger than Pujols’ decision to split St. Louis for a $240 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels. Add Fielder’s move from Milwaukee for a $214 million, nine-year deal with Detroit, and the lives of AL pitchers just got 75 homers and 219 RBIs tougher.

“You have offenses that are going to let you know if your pitching is not up to par,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “There’s certainly been a sway to some extraordinarily deep lineups in the American League.”

The 14 AL teams have spent $776.8 million on major league contracts for players who became free agents after the World Series and the NL’s 16 clubs have committed $597.3 million. That NL lineup looks a lot less fearsome heading into the All-Star game at Kansas City’s Kaufmann Stadium on July 10.

And despite a 71-91 record last year, even the Royals are hopeful before the first pitch has been thrown — even with the AL’s new additions.

“They make it more exciting and more challenging for all of us,” general manager Dayton Moore said. “I’m a fan, too, and like watching them play. It’s exciting.”

Seattle is first to open because the Mariners start the season in Tokyo with a two-game series against Oakland on March 28-29.

“We have to make decisions a little bit earlier because we have to have a club together when we go there, and then you come back and readjust and then have a week of spring training for everyone to get their bearings back,” Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said. “It’s almost like going away to football camp in high school.”

The cost-conscious Athletics, who dealt All-Stars Gio Gonzalez and Andrew Bailey and starter Trevor Cahill, opted not to use the extra week.

“There’s only so much you can do in the days before games, and players tend to go a little nuts after too many days of PFPs and live BP,” Oakland assistant GM David Forst said, referring to pitchers’ fielding practice and batting practice.

Other teams start reporting Feb. 18 ahead of the stateside opener, which features the Cardinals at the renamed and now rainbow-colored Miami Marlins on April 4 in the first official game at $515 million Marlins Park. The Fish were among the offseason’s big spenders, reeling in All-Stars Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell for a combined $191 million while failing to hook Pujols.

“I want our team to be important,” Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria said, his gaudy 2003 World Series ring sparkling as he spoke.

While the Marlins and Angels stocked up, with Los Angeles spending a combined $317.5 million on Pujols and left-hander C.J. Wilson, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox acted like small-market savers.