AL East

The first start of Masahiro Tanaka's career with the New York Yankees is officially in the books at the Rogers Centre. After two rocky innings, Tanaka settled down and dominated a talented Blue Jays lineup over seven innings. 

Aside from the scoreless innings and pitch-by-pitch execution, two things stood out about Tanaka's first performance: poise and command.

What Jonny Gomes has lost in terms of beard, he has certainly gained tenfold in patriotism.

It's only fitting that the New York Yankees are one of the final two teams, along with Tuesday night's opponents, the Houston Astros, to experience their first game of the 2014 season.

As Derek Jeter's 20th and final major league season begins in Houston, the Yankees captain can be described as a leader, winner and offensive genius. For media members and fans, statistics and accolades tell the story of an all-time great shortstop.

Living up to its purpose, this year's spring training has answered a ton of roster-related questions for the New York Yankees.

The Yankees had three legitimate questions to answer heading into spring camp.

Who are the reserve middle infielders?

Who is the No. 5 starter?

Who is the backup catcher?

The Boston Red Sox are getting closer to starting the defense of their World Series title when they begin regular season play on March 31 against the Baltimore Orioles.

Some questions about the roster have been answered during their time in Fort Myers, Fla. However, new ones have appeared due to certain performances, and others still need to be figured out.

Though it was fun to behold, the Baltimore Orioles’ return to the postseason in 2012 had the look and feel of a season that was going to be awfully hard to repeat.

And it was. The Orioles went from 93 wins in 2012 to 85 wins in 2013, in large part because their pitching was nowhere near as consistent as their offense and defense.

The New York Yankees trotted Masahiro Tanaka out for his fourth appearance and third start of the spring on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins. It was his longest outing so far, both from innings (5.2) and pitch count (92), and the results were basically what they have been all spring—a lot of good and some things to work on. 

Spring training is coming to a close and position battles are to be won or lost.

With the 2014 MLB season nearly upon us, the Boston Red Sox find themselves in an enviable position of defending their third World Series title in the last 10 years.

As shown by their massive spending spree this offseason, the New York Yankees retool through free agency and not through their minor league system.

However, it is hard to know if they do that by choice or if they are forced to by a lack of organizational depth.