Rankings/List

We're through the first week of June, and even though the Boston Red Sox still sit in the bottom of the tight AL East, they've made a lot of progress since their slow start to open the season.

Their pitching is much improved and the replacements for many of the injured Boston stars have played surprisingly well.

To say that the Red Sox have no chance to make the playoffs at this point in the year is asinine. There’s even a relatively good chance that they go into the All-Star break with a lead in the AL East.

Last month, I decided to begin a series that would follow the Toronto Blue Jays' top prospects on their journey through the 2012 professional baseball season.

Since it's about two months into the minor league season, it's time to take our second look at how each of the Blue Jays' top youngsters are faring in the minors.

The 2012 MLB draft has come and gone, and now teams will begin the tedious process of negotiating with their draftees under the new CBA rules.

Chances are, there will be more top-level high school talents going to college than ever before as teams will no longer be able to shell out well-above slot bonuses to sway a prospect's decision.

With that in mind, here is a look at each MLB team's biggest signability concern, as things will be figured out one way or another by the July 13th signing deadline.

In barely a day's work, teams all across the league have hedged their bets on players that will no doubt resemble the future of their franchises, even if they don't know which they'll be just yet.

While college players have certainly been taken in great numbers, teams always find the will to take chances on the sometimes unpolished high school stars that possess the talent to have a seemingly non-existent ceiling.

Fantasy baseball leagues are not won on draft day. Granted, some of them can be lost, but in general, a league is won by the shrewd roster moves made by the owner who is furthest ahead of the curve. If you added Chris Sale or Jeff Samardzija in recent weeks, you know the feeling.

Prior to the 2011 trade deadline, a number of big names were on the move. That should be the case once again this year.

The trade winds have begun to pick up and more and more rumors have been flying around. A number of big names have already been mentioned as possible trade candidates this season.

Big bats like Hunter Pence and Kevin Youkilis could be dealt, and they will come with a fairly high price tag. Acquiring one of these players could be the piece that a team needs to make the playoffs.

Monday marked the beginning of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft for Major League Baseball. Oh, you didn't hear about it? That's because of the four major sports, the MLB draft operates in complete anonymity. Over the next three days, there will be 40 rounds of players being selected, and you'll probably hear nothing about it.

Today, we're going to try and change that. Bud Selig better be listening because it's time to look at ways that the MLB Draft can be just as exciting as its counterparts.

When people talk about the minor league prospects in the Cleveland Indians organization, they mostly discuss a small number of players. Names such as Francisco Lindor, LeVon Washington and Chen Lee are the some of the most usual suspects.

While those names are exciting to talk about, there are just as many intriguing prospects that are very rarely mentioned.

After previewing the 10 best catchers in the 2012 draft class earlier today, Prospect Pipeline’s draft coverage continues with a preview of the top draft prospects at second base.

Stanford third baseman Stephen Piscotty is an underrated college baseball player who will end up landing higher than expected in this year's MLB draft.

Many mock drafts are projecting teams near the top of the draft to select developmental high school players, but by the time the results are in we're going to see that teams value players who can make a more immediate impact.