AL West

The Seattle Mariners are inching ever closer to solidifying their starting rotation for the 2013 season. More decisions will likely be made soon as players are moved to the bullpen, sent to the minors or politely asked to seek employment elsewhere.

This spring, the Seattle Mariners have been, dare I say, entertaining. 

As an organization, there are quite a few positive signs to point toward for the future, but what about this season?

With a mix of youth and experience, the team seems keen on taking a positive step forward toward competing in the American League West.  

Coming into spring training, the A's had five potential starters battling for playing time at second base in 2013.  Surely the A's could find a starter in a pool of players consisting of Jemile Weeks, Scott Sizemore, Jed Lowrie, Adam Rosales and even Andy Parrino.

Yet the A's find themselves just more than two weeks from opening day and nobody has emerged from the crowd.  

The Seattle Mariners started spring training camp with 61 players. They are now down to 47, and more cuts will be coming soon as opening day is not that far away.

Fourteen cuts down. Twenty-two to go. Can you feel the tension start to build?

Some of the cuts have been expected, while others are intriguing. As is usually the case, certain players have stepped up and surprised people enough to warrant additional consideration.

So far in spring training, the Seattle Mariners have looked like world-beaters. Going into Tuesday's action, the Mariners sat in second place in the Cactus League standings at 11-5 having outscored their opponents by 25 runs while also leading all MLB clubs in home runs with 31.

The Seattle Mariners will have some tough decisions to make when the roster needs to be trimmed to 25 players. There is the issue of the starting rotation, but perhaps more complicated is the outfield. Seattle has a fairly large slate of players who will be competing for the three outfield positions plus some bench spots.

The hottest position competition for the Oakland A's this spring is at second base, which is where one of their hottest hitters happens to play his defense.

Jemile Weeks has had an up-and-down career, having been called up from the minors in 2011, being deemed untouchable in trades that offseason and then being sent back to the minors in 2012.

With the A's trading Cliff Pennington and losing Stephen Drew in free agency, Weeks has gotten his chance to climb back to the top.  

There aren’t many instances where an 0-for-3 batting performance—even in spring training—creates a positive outlook, but Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols’ preseason debut may be the outlier.

As we move ever closer to Opening Day, the Rangers find themselves in need of a No. 5 starter. Their pursuit of another arm may very well end with the addition of either Kyle Lohse or Rick Porcello.

After the team missed out on Zack Greinke and James Shields this offseason, they were already thinner than they'd hoped in the starting rotation.