Baseball

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.

Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus is working his way back from forearm tightness this spring and will soon make his return to the diamond, according to Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Jeff Wilson on Twitter:

The Giants System Check video offers a quick overview of the team's farm system, addressing its strengths and weaknesses and how it can improve moving forward. The video also provides a breakdown of the Giants' top prospects for 2014, pitchers Kyle Crick, Edwin Escobar and Chris Stratton, including each player's ETA in the major leagues and potential long-term role within the organization.

Whereas the 2014 American League MVP race will likely be between Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera again, the NL MVP race should be more wide open again. Andrew McCutchen will be in it, as will Yadier Molina, Buster Posey, Joey Votto and Bryce Harper. Just to name a few.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have high hopes for the 2014 season, after missing the playoffs in each of the past two years. Following back-to-back .500 seasons the D’Backs underwent an aggressive offseason makeover in an attempt to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants in what’s expected to be a very competitive NL West race.

The Atlanta Braves have come a long way since their humble beginnings as the Boston Red Stockings. They’ve seen cities, stadiums, owners, players and even team names come and go through a revolving door. The Braves have had high points, like winning the World Series, and low points, like devastating playoff losses and seasons with few highlights.

For Oakland A's fans, the term "March Madness" reflects their team's crazy spring training. One major player is out for the season and another isn't hitting. But there is good news: A few guys you might not have expected to hit so well have been pleasant surprises.

Spring training is meant to answer a team's questions.

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.

The Cincinnati Reds haven't exactly had the best of luck in spring training this year.

The team won 90 games last season, but it was tasked with the challenge of replacing Shin-Soo Choo, while questions about rotational depth and whether or not Billy Hamilton would be ready to step in as an everyday player were abundant leading up to spring training.

In short, there was a lot of work to do this spring, and to this point, next to nothing has been settled.