Rankings/List

The Atlanta Braves system may be weak, but the cupboard is far from bare.

Twenty-year-old second baseman Jose Peraza's exciting tools and advanced feel for the game have him on the fast track to the major leagues, while the team's top prospect from 2014, right-hander Lucas Sims, seems poised for a bounce-back campaign.  

The Arizona Diamondbacks enter 2015 with much uncertainty regarding their starting rotation.

According to the depth chart, Josh Collmenter is listed as the team's top starting pitcher. He is followed by Rubby De La Rosa, Jeremy Hellickson, Allen Webster and Vidal Nuno.

The Atlanta Braves' 2015 roster became more clear after the Justin Upton trade.

The outfield will consist of Evan Gattis, B.J. Upton and Nick Markakis. Christian Bethancourt will be the primary catcher.

The infield also looks set with Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, Chris Johnson and either Alberto Callaspo or Jace Peterson.

While the positional players look clear, the rotation still has some question marks.

While only the biggest free-agent signings and blockbuster trades capture headlines during the MLB offseason, there are literally hundreds and hundreds of transactions made each winter, both at the major league and minor league levels.

As a result, there are no shortage of under-the-radar additions made to all 30 teams each offseason, and from time to time those unheralded guys wind up making a significant impact.

The 2015 MLB Hall of Fame class is historically impressive.

The following four players are all be headed to Cooperstown this summer, per the MLB Twitter account:

• Craig Biggio
• Randy Johnson
• Pedro Martinez
• John Smoltz

As ESPN Stats & Info points out, this is the first time since 1955 and just the third time overall that four players will enter the Hall in the same year.

Marcus Stroman’s graduation to big league starter last season put a temporary dent in the Toronto Blue Jays' system, but right-hander Aaron Sanchez, lefty Daniel Norris and center fielder Dalton Pompey each picked up the slack in his absence, as all three prospects finished the year in the major leagues.

There's no other way to put it: The MLB offseason market for bats is looking bleak. 

While the offensive options are extremely limited, there are still some prominent pitchers up for grabs on the free-agent and trade fronts. Max Scherzer headlines the class of remaining free-agent arms, and aces like Jordan Zimmermann and Johnny Cueto have been the subject of trade buzz. 

From the rise of the super bullpen to the successful implementation of the instant-replay system, there was a lot going on in MLB in 2014. 

While there were plenty of positive trends to focus on, there were also troubling developments that arose that simply can't be ignored. Power continued to vanish in ballparks all around the league, and a flood of Tommy John surgeries hit some of baseball's most talented arms. 

The calendar has turned to 2015 and this means the Mets' upcoming season is that much closer to beginning.

The Mets are hoping to break their eight-year postseason drought and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The team is moving in a good direction for the future, and hopefully this will be the year the Mets take the next step forward.

Here are five resolutions for the Mets for the new year.

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As general managers around baseball wake up on New Year's Day, they'd like to believe that they do so with a strong roster, one without any major holes or weaknesses.

Nobody actually believes that, of course, for it's simply not true.

There's always an area (or three) that can be improved upon. For some clubs, it's the lineup or bench. For others, its the starting rotation and bullpen—or maybe the defense behind that pitching staff—that needs to be addressed.