Fan News

The Minnesota Twins got the news they were dreading Saturday morning. Their top prospect, Miguel Sano, will have Tommy John surgery and miss the 2014 season, as reported by ESPN.com.

While high-profile free agent signings and blockbuster trades are what makes baseball's offseason the most interesting and intriguing in all of sports, the overshadowed, under-the-radar moves often prove to be equally as important to a team's success in the upcoming season.

You won't find any perennial All-Stars, MVP candidates or Cy Young Award contenders on this list, instead it is comprised of five players that don't get much attention—but who will make their new general managers look like baseball savants for adding them to their respective rosters.

2013 was disappointing for the Philadelphia Phillies, and it is safe to say that I was not the only one waiting for Spring Training to get underway. We are all hoping that this season will be better than last, and how the Phillies perform in Spring Training can give us a pretty good indication of what we might see coming our way this season.

That’s why I’m here to help out. I have put together a list of the important things that have gone down already even though we are only three games into the affair.

The New York Mets will host the split-squad Miami Marlins at Tradition Field Saturday at 1:10 p.m. ET.

Mets starter John Lannan faces Kevin Slowey of the Marlins. Lannan is one of several candidates for the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation.

It does not feel like baseball season outside here in the Midwest, but Opening Day is now under a month away. 

If you have not already, it is time to start researching for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. Pitching wins championships in both real and fantasy baseball. 

A popular strategy used to be picking up different starting pitchers every week to win both wins and strikeouts. However, this strategy has been taken away by max pickup rules. 

Now you need to research starting pitchers to win your league. 

All eyes were on Jose Abreu Friday afternoon, as the Cuban slugger made his highly anticipated White Sox debut after signing a four-year, $68 million contract during the offseason.

Updates from Saturday, March 1

LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has the latest on Sano and the news isn't good:

The highly-touted third base prospects has a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament and will need Tommy John surgery. Sano will fly to Minnesota next week to have the surgery.

[...]

Had the first two years of Bryce Harper's career happened in, say, 2010 and 2011, we undoubtedly would have celebrated the young Washington Nationals slugger as the great young player in MLB. 

While Stephen Drew, Ervin Santana and Kendrys Morales are still free agents as February comes to a close, the rest of Major League Baseball is in the full swing of spring training.

Fresh off his new record contract, Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout hit a grand slam during the bottom of the fourth inning of Friday's spring training game against the Chicago Cubs. 

It was Trout's fifth RBI of the game and gave the Angels a 9-1 lead.