Rankings/List

There are some players in Major League Baseball who just won’t go down on strikes.

These players are a pitcher’s worst nightmare—the ones who foul off pitch after pitch, battling until they find a pitch they can put into play. The batter might ground out, fly out or line out, but he definitely isn’t going to strike out.

As spring training closes in on its final days, and Major League Baseball looks forward to the regular season, teams across the league view their competition and highlight players that they feel will have a big impact during the regular season. 

With spring training slowly winding down, prospects continue to be cut from big league camp on seemingly a daily basis. While players already on their teams' 40-man rosters have been optioned to a specific level, a majority of prospects have received an assignment to minor league spring training.

As evidenced by the 2013 version of MLB Network's annual Top 100 players list, trying to rank the best in baseball is no easy feat. With so many different stars with different skill sets at different points in their careers, every opinion on such lists will be, well...different.

Winning a division is simple.

On paper.

If it was just on paper, the Detroit Tigers could hoist their third consecutive American League Central Division Championship trophy right now.

But that's why they play 162 games over seven grueling months, and fight so hard to be successful.

Every team needs a blueprint to carving out their championship plan, and the Tigers have been pretty good at following their own blueprint the last two seasons.

When it comes to ballplayers, "the greatest of all time" is a touchy subject. There have been many great ones, and trying to whittle the list down to one definitive GOAT is an exercise that will give you brain aches.

If only there was an easier way...And to this end, I have an idea.

Well, to be honest, college basketball has an idea that I'm stealing. To determine who's the best among many, college basketball rounds up the top 68 contestants, seeds them, puts them in a bracket and then goes until "One Shining Moment" starts playing.

Here’s the 2013 LestersLegends Catcher Rankings for NL-only leagues.



1. Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants

Posey led the Majors with a .336 batting average. He led all catchers with 103 RBI. I’m not sure there is much he can’t do. Last year, he finished with a .336-78-24-103-1 line.



2. Miguel Montero, Arizona Diamondbacks

In 2010 the San Francisco Giants won the World Series with the best homegrown rotation in recent memory. Drafted and developed by the organization, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner were each at the forefront of the team’s immensely successful season.

Before that it was the Oakland A’s “Big Three” of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito, who combined for 234 wins in the same starting rotation from 2000 to 2004.

Spring training is great. It’s a relaxing, yet entertaining brand of baseball reminiscent of the 1970s and ‘80s. However, spring training obviously has a greater purpose besides the leisurely entertainment we all enjoy.

These six weeks give coaches and fans an idea of the strength of their teams and, in turn, a preview of what the coming season will hold. With the Red Sox just a few short weeks away from heading up north, it’s time to examine just how prepared they are for the upcoming season. 

Every season there are first-round draft picks who, within a matter of a few years, emerge as stars in the major leagues. While the trend can in part be attributed to a player’s corresponding selection—higher draft picks are perceived to have more potential—the soaring failure rate among baseball prospects suggests that a draft pick’s potential value is in the eye of the beholder.