Opinion

If there is one thing that defines Major League Baseball in 2014, it is youth. All around the sport, teams are trying to build rosters through the draft and international market, and the number of long-term contracts for first- and second-year players keeps growing. 

It's a great time to be a fan of player development, as players like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman have all taken the league by storm in recent years. They have been joined this season by future stars like Xander Bogaerts, Yordano Ventura and Kolten Wong. 

The Cleveland Indians' minor league affiliates have played through the first week of their 2014 seasons. Some of the team's top prospects are off to great starts, while others, not so much. 

Over the long, winding path of baseball's 162-game season, expectations and hype can be overshadowed by day-to-day results, small-sample size narratives and early-season headlines. In a league where parity is becoming an operative word, more than half of the majors entered 2014 with hype—either from external or internal forces.

This season brings the 40-year anniversary of the legendary Hank Aaron breaking fellow Hall of Famer Babe Ruth's all-time home run record. In fact, April 8, 1974—40 years ago today—is the exact date on which Aaron hit No. 715 to pass The Babe.

It's not often that you get a guy who's a massive free-agent bust and a massive trade bust. Guys tend to belong to one club or the other, not both.

Which brings us to Prince Fielder. Early in 2014, he's put himself on a path to become one of the rare exceptions.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have to be growing tired of Madison Bumgarner, don’t you think?

We're still in the "WARNING: SMALL SAMPLE SIZES" portion of the MLB season. But after a full (business) week's worth of action, we can at least round up our first impressions.

And if we're going to do that, man, you know we have to start with the players who were paid the big bucks over the offseason.

Sometimes, when you just can't buy any hits and you really feel the need to find yourself, the best thing to do is pay a visit to the Houston Astros.

It worked for the Los Angeles Angels, anyway.

The Masahiro Tanaka era is under way.

On Friday night, the 25-year-old Japanese pitcher made his highly anticipated Major League debut, taking the mound for the Yankees against the Blue Jays in their home opener.

The New York Mets need to adjust their philosophy on how to build a major league bullpen, and that starts with transitioning some of their starting pitching depth into relievers.