Preview/Prediction

They were taken in the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft. Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman consider themselves best friends on and off the field. They are expected to do big things again for the Atlanta Braves in 2013.

Just when it seemed the Boston Red Sox couldn't get any lower than fried chicken and beer in the club house, the baseball world witnessed Jon Lester’s career-worst 11 runs against Toronto, Daniel Bard’s transition from the bullpen to the starting rotation and Josh Beckett’s golf game.

The Philadelphia Phillies finally relinquished the crown to the emerging Washington Nationals squad in the surprising NL East division last season. The headline-grabbing Miami Marlins finished last in the division after having such high hopes and the New York Mets?

'Tis the season for hard bargaining in Major League Baseball. A handful of players filed for arbitration on Friday, including several players with considerable star power.

Among the notables is San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley, who filed for over $10 million following his breakout year in 2012. Also looking for significant pay raises are San Francisco Giants closer Sergio Romo and Cincinnati Reds right-handers Mat Latos and Homer Bailey.

Once again, the NL East is stacked with talent from the top teams.  Despite the complete overhaul of the Miami Marlins after the disappointing 2012 season and the trade of Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey from the Mets, this is still arguably one of the toughest divisions there is top to bottom.

The Chicago White Sox have lineup questions that must be answered before the 2013 season begins. It will be up to second-year manager Robin Ventura to squeeze every ounce of offensive production out of the White Sox batting order.

It will not be an easy task.

See, a lot has changed for the White Sox offense since the end of the 2012 season.

While making predictions for the upcoming season is always a challenge, predicting five years down the road is virtually impossible

With so much changing on a season-to-season and even a day-to-day basis in the MLB, the landscape of the league will no doubt look entirely different by 2018.

Challenging as it may be, here are my predictions for who will be each team's best player five years from now.

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With approximately four weeks remaining until MLB teams report to spring training, there are a surprising number of familiar names still available on the free-agent market. 

Some of these players have had impressive seasons in the majors, both in the regular season and postseason, and could surely make a meaningful contribution to any club that signed them to a contract.

Spring training is approaching and the Braves have yet to replace Chipper Jones or the leadoff spot in the lineup, but they do have plenty of talent to work with.

This article takes a look at five potential lineups for the Braves to put together this season. 

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Last season, the Los Angeles Dodgers scored 637 runs, ranking 25th out of 30 MLB teams.

For the Dodgers to live up to expectations, compete for the NL West and contend for a World Series championship this season, they have to score more runs and give their outstanding pitching staff some support.