Opinion

Close your eyes, Boston Red Sox fans, and picture Dustin Pedroia. Not the guy who fought through injuries the last two seasons as his power plummeted, but the old Pedroia. The MVP Pedroia.

Many of the top prospects in the minor leagues never had a legitimate chance to make a big league roster out of camp.

And now for something we all ought to be used to by now:

A discussion about whether veteran New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia is good at pitching baseballs again, which will inevitably skew toward an "I'm not so sure, man" conclusion.

The National League West has been a division owned in recent years by the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. But, there is a new kid on the block, the San Diego Padres, fresh off a winter in which they consummated blockbuster trades and broke the bank for key free agents. 

LAKELAND, Fla. — Justin Verlander knows all eyes are on him this season. And not just because many of those eyes are hoping to catch a glimpse of Kate Upton.

No, with Max Scherzer long gone and the Detroit Tigers still oh-fer when it comes to World Series titles under owner Mike Ilitch, the clock is ticking loudly. The Tigers are getting older. Ilitch, 85, is getting older.

Before we get to talking about Joey Gallo and the future of the Texas Rangers, let's talk about Yu Darvish and the present of the Texas Rangers.

Which, yeah, is not a particularly pretty picture.

When Yogi Berra said 90 percent of baseball is mental and that the other half is physical, he was only half-right. He forgot about luck, which is also some random-but-notable percentage of the game.

Spring training has begun, and the Dodgers are still a few weeks away from moving from Arizona to Los Angeles. However, their roster is still slightly in flux; I believe the platonic ideal of their Opening Day roster is not what it would actually look like if the team broke camp today.

With the production of the film Moneyball back in 2011, Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane became a nationally known figure.

Since that outstanding movie's release, the A's have been even more successful and Beane has been even more daring.

The American League West, won by the Los Angeles Angels in 2014, is one of the more exciting divisions in baseball, featuring some of the brightest stars in the game. In addition to the bevy of stars, last season's race for the division crown was heated between the Angels, Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners.