AL East

It's been an interesting offseason for the Baltimore Orioles, as they made mostly under-the-radar moves up until the past couple weeks, when they added a pair of the top remaining free agents on the market in slugger Nelson Cruz and right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez.

Considered a weakness for the Toronto Blue Jays going into last season, the team’s bullpen ironically turned out to be its biggest strength.

With the starting rotation struggling to pitch deep into games and often leaving in the early innings, the Blue Jays’ relievers ended up taking on that extra load and kept the team in most games.

Despite pitching the second-highest number of innings in the American League, Toronto’s bullpen finished the season with a 3.37 ERA, fourth lowest in the AL.

The long-awaited debut of Masahiro Tanaka finally took place Saturday afternoon, when the New York Yankees' prized pitcher took the mound for two innings of spring training work against the Philadelphia Phillies.

In March, it's common to introduce an opinion of a player or performance by reminding readers that it's very early, spring training statistics don't count and the real games are about a month away from reality.

With New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, that edict isn't just necessary—it's vital.

Entering the official start of spring training 2014, one thing is clear: the New York Yankees are Major League Baseball's most talked about team.

Despite the half-billion dollars the New York Yankees slammed down this summer, they still seem to have a half-baked idea of an infield.

For having only four infield spots, they appear to face a far greater number of realistic questions. They also carry more catchers on the 40-man roster (five) than they do MLB-caliber infielders whom they can trust for 162 games.

The Tampa Bay Rays have most of their roster spots already locked in for 2014.

Unless a player like Sean Rodriguez has a completely terrible spring, there are only two spots available on the 25-man roster. Those openings are for the final bench player and final reliever.

Jeremy Hellickson’s surgery has opened a need for a fifth starter; though that position is a temporary fill until he returns in May.

Last season was a rough one for the New York Yankees.

With starting pitcher Homer Bailey officially off the 2014-2015 free-agent board after agreeing to a long-term contract extension with the Cincinnati Reds, the pressure could be rising for the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers to get deals done with their own free agent-to-be front-line starters. 

From the beginning of the MLB offseason, Nelson Cruz seemed like a very good fit for the Baltimore Orioles, with their interest in Cruz reported early on. They weren't alone, however.