AL East

We're nearly two full months into the 2014 season and we've seen enough from many of the Boston Red Sox's top prospects to judge their developmental progress so far this year.

Many of their starting pitching prospects have made 10-plus starts. Many of their hitters are nearing 200 plate appearances. We're even seeing some players promoted on the backs of fast starts and organizational need. The sample sizes may be too small to hold predictive value, but they're no longer too small to tell us part of a story in many cases.

Year one of the Xander Bogaerts era at shortstop is not going as planned.

The Baltimore Orioles (23-22) have finally come to a skid in the road on their path to securing a division title and a postseason berth.

As was to be expected, the Orioles' weaknesses of an underperforming offense and an unreliable starting rotation are finally catching up to them, as they are 3-7 over their last 10 games played, which included a three-game sweep at the hands of the visiting Detroit Tigers early last week.

In a bid to invigorate a slumping offense, the Red Sox signed former shortstop Stephen Drew to a one-year contract Tuesday, as Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal broke.

More than six months after he rejected a qualifying offer, only to find no takers in free agency, infielder Stephen Drew finally has a home for 2014 after re-signing with the Boston Red Sox.

Forty-three games into the 2014 season, and the New York Yankees are sitting just above mediocrity with a 23-20 record, giving analysts and fans alike a big enough sample to be able to draw some takeaways from the first quarter of the season.

When spring training ended, New York Yankees infielder Yangervis Solarte looked like a fringe major league player in the right place at the right time. With depth and age concerns at second base, third base and shortstop, Solarte's inclusion on the Opening Day roster was born of necessity, rather than dreams of future production.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista needs just one home run to take sole possession of fifth place on the all-time

• AL East
• Baseball
• Jose Bautista
• MLB
• Preview/Prediction
• Records & Milestones
• Toronto Blue Jays