Rankings/List

One month of the 2016 MLB season is in the books, but there's still a lot of baseball to be played.

April was dominated by the city of Chicago, as the Cubs and White Sox have separated themselves from the pack here in the early going.

The Washington Nationals and New York Mets appear ready for a tight battle in the NL East, while the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners have been two of the hottest teams on the American League side of things as they battle for AL West supremacy.

Baseball's regular season might be a marathon and not a sprint, but it seemed like we blew through April in record time, doesn't it?

The players in this list might disagree with that sentiment. All of them are struggling badly out of the gate and eager to leave the season's opening month firmly in the past. While there's plenty of time for them to turn things around, it doesn't make their struggles any less frustrating.

The is-this-for-real conversation begins to happen after the first month of the Major League Baseball season like a young actor enjoying the first taste of celebrity.

What we try to take away from April’s baseball action is what is fact and what is fiction. One month provides us little that is definitive in a six-month MLB season.

But, of course, we want our answers. And we want them now.

As the Major League Baseball season moves from April and into May, the 2016 awards season is about to get one step closer.

It's still too early to pick who's going to win the big races, of course. It's not too early, however, to check in on who's in the lead.

Ahead are our picks for the early leaders for the Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards in the American League and National League. Managers were chosen based on who's done the most for their team, and players were chosen based on all-around performance and general impact.

The first semester of the 2016 regular season has come to an end, and report cards are heading home to each of baseball's 30 teams. Some managers and front office executives will try to get into work early to intercept the mail, while others will simply lean back and wait for a pat on the back from ownership.

While it's far too early to make declarative statements about the ultimate fate of most teams after only a month of action, it's enough of a sample size for us to look at areas that are strengths for each club and, conversely, areas that are in need of improvement.

We know what you're thinking: Here comes another prospects piece that's going to rehash the same old stuff about the same old prospects that we've been hearing about for way too long. In some regards, you're right—Julio Urias is absolutely going to make an appearance here.

But the criteria we've come up with for inclusion on this list opens the door for some lesser-known prospects to have a light shined on them for once.

Three weeks are now in the books here in the 2016 MLB season, and a few teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack here in the early going.

The Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals have gotten off to terrific starts on the National League side of things, while the defending champion Kansas City Royals still look like the team to beat in the American League.

The Chicago White Sox have impressed early, though, and were the biggest risers in this week's edition of our MLB power rankings.

The funk doesn't care about a player's salary, track record of success or stat line on the season. At some point over the course of a 162-game regular season, the funk pays a visit to every player in baseball.

With no surefire way to get rid of the funk—what works for one player won't necessarily work for another—players take different approaches in their attempts to get back on track. Some get to the ballpark earlier for extra work, while others may choose to grind it out, hoping that the passing of time is all they need.

The third week of the 2016 MLB season is in the books, and it's time for a quick look back at the biggest takeaways from around the league.

Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs provided the big highlight of the week with his second career no-hitter, and in the process he's continued to close the gap on Clayton Kershaw for the title of best pitcher in the game.

When it comes to trendsetting technological advancements, no sport does it better than Major League Baseball.

Much of the credit for the sport's tech savvy approach goes to the vision of commissioner Rob Manfred. The boss of baseball fully grasps just how critical embracing technology is to the long term health of the game.