Fan News

The Hall of Fame lists Frank Thomas as a first baseman.

Not as a first baseman/designated hitter. Not as a designated hitter/first baseman.

These are hard times for MLB free agents. With spring training fast approaching, roster spots and money are in shorter supply than they were at the beginning of the offseason.

This much is certain, though: The top free agents still standing won't be unemployed forever. They're going to land somewhere.

So, let's go ahead and predict where these somewheres will be.

The 2016-17 MLB free-agent class was projected to be a dud, and it hasn't disappointed.

Or, rather, it has.

Veteran reliever Santiago Casilla has found a new home this offseason, agreeing to a deal with the Oakland Athletics.  

The Tampa Bay Rays took steps to stockpile talent in their farm system starting next season by trading starting pitcher Drew Smyly to the Seattle Mariners. 

The Tampa Bay Rays announced Wednesday they traded Drew Smyly to the Seattle Mariners for Mallex Smith and two minor leaguers, Carlos Vargas and Ryan Yarbrough.

Smyly, one of the centerpieces of the trade that sent David Price to the Detroit Tigers in 2014, went 7-12 with a 4.88 ERA in 30 starts for the Rays last year.

The New York Mets sent out invitations Wednesday to their major league spring training camp, but Tim Tebow is not one of the names on the list, according to Marc Carig of Newsday. 

Carig did add that the Mets could "borrow" Tebow for Grapefruit League games.

It's time to start preparing for the upcoming fantasy baseball season.

Sure, most drafts are still at least a month away. But nobody wants to be caught unprepared, forced to rely on the preset rankings supplied by whatever site your league uses, manically flipping printouts as you search for a worthy selection while the clock runs out on you.

It's risky these days to call any prospect untouchable, as we've seen too many blockbuster deals in recent years to truly believe anyone is 100 percent safe from being moved in the right deal.

After all, who would have guessed that Yoan Moncada would be dealt this winter?

That said, a handful of prospects around the league come awfully close to being untouchable, as their future upside and expected long-term role with their teams make trading them highly unlikely.

"Depth" is a loaded word for the New York Mets.

The Mets won the National League pennant in 2015 on the strength of their stacked, young starting rotation. Last season, the same group was beset by injuries, and it is a question mark going into 2017.