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Entering the latter stages of their rebuilding program, the New York Mets have a crucial amateur draft coming up in June.

Over the recent years, the Mets have drafted very young players with an emphasis on tools rather than filling needs. With a much deeper farm system than just a half-decade ago, the Mets could potentially alter this strategy for 2014.

Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier has already shown off plenty of power this season with 11 home runs, but he's also willing to show off his brains.

To prepare for his team's "Turn Back the Clock" game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Dozier claimed he could solve a Rubik's Cube in 90 seconds. Some of his teammates were intrigued, so they wanted to see what he could do.

The 27-year-old was close, finishing in 96 seconds.

On Friday night, Fenway Park turned into the Wild West. Scores were settled, barbs were thrown and threats of future retaliation echoed through the night.

Lost in the ugliness of the Arizona Diamondbacks' 4-14 start to the season and the team's marquee hiring of Tony La Russa has been the gradual growth and development of the D-backs' young core position players.

MLB award season talk won't really heat up until after the All-Star break, but it's never too early to check in on the top candidates to take home MVP and Cy Young honors here in 2014.

What follows is a look at the top five candidates for both honors in the National League and American League as things stand today and whether or not they are legitimate contenders or pretenders to actually take home the award at season's end.

In baseball, the season can be broken down into three stages that form the backbone of each campaign, setting the stage for present and future success.

April and May serve as a tentative, conservative stage in which big moves rarely happen, managers don't sit on hot seats and executives spend countless hours preparing for the June draft. By the time August and September arrive, the work is done and the best teams rise to the top.

Over the course of this weekend, almost every team in baseball will have played 54 games of the 2014 schedule. With one-third of the season nearly complete, it's a perfect time to assess the season thus far.

Since a season-opening tilt between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks in Australia, baseball has been back, offering new narratives and breakout performances on a weekly basis. Since the second week of play, Bleacher Report has been providing weekly analysis, with a combination of short-term reaction and long-term perspective. 

The working title for this column was simply "Oscar Taveras: 'Bout Damn Time."

David Ortiz says he has lost respect for David Price.

In the process, a lot of people have lost respect for Ortiz.

After the two teams got in a scuffle last week, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays cleared the benches once again on Friday.

UPDATE: Saturday, May 31 at 1:55 p.m. ET

David Ortiz was not happy with Price's pitch, and he had some choice words to say to the Rays pitcher, according to CSNNE.com: