Baseball is finally back with players preparing for the season, but a whole host of teams still have plenty of work to do.

A number of quality free agents remain available for squads hoping to improve before Opening Day in April. For those who can't find the right fit on the open market, there are also plenty of trade possibilities across the league.

Here are the latest rumors to watch out for heading into spring training.

There's no doubting the top of the New York Mets' starting rotation. Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard pack enough firepower to flash "No mas" on a radar gun, and some pretty good numbers, too.

But what of Steven Matz? As the left-hander prepares for his first full major league season, our inner pitching junkie can't help but wonder if he could turn the Mets' vaunted trio into a vaunted foursome.

The long, cold winter may still be going strong in some parts of the country, but one wouldn't know it in sunny Arizona and Florida, as pitchers and catchers have officially begun reporting to spring training.

We're still a few weeks from Grapefruit and Cactus League games getting underway, but in the meantime we've decided to take a crack at predicting some various odds and ends surrounding the 2016 spring training action.

These five writers made up our panel of prognosticators:

Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton shared space atop draft boards in the spring of 2012, and they shared space on prospect lists in the years that followed.

Spring training has finally arrived, bringing with it the optimism that only a new baseball season can offer. 

Of course that optimism runs higher in some camps than others, with a handful of clubs still scrambling to bolster their rosters before Opening Day arrives. The good news for those teams is that a larger-than-expected number of players are still looking for new homes, increasing their options.

It may still be freezing in some parts of the country, but spring is officially here as pitchers and catchers are set to begin reporting to spring training in sunny Arizona and Florida later this week.

Before the preseason officially begins, it's time to roll out our official farm-system rankings for the upcoming year, complete with a look at the top 10 prospects within each organization.

Spring training is about to begin, and so too should your preparations for the upcoming fantasy baseball season.

While most drafts are still a few weeks away, nobody wants to be caught unprepared by relying on the preset rankings supplied by whatever site you use and haphazardly scribbled names on a sticky note that you can barely make out.

From Spotlight to The Big Short, we've seen most of the Oscar contenders (loved both of those, not so hip on The Martian). From Kendrick Lamar to Alabama Shakes, we tracked the Grammys from start to finish the other night.

Nobody can say the Boston Red Sox are lacking in stars heading into 2016. To rise from the depths of the AL East, all they need is for their stars to live up to their track records.

Now for the part where we cast the ol' side-eye at Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval.

After an offseason spent dealing away several starters, the Atlanta Braves have shown no signs of immediate improvement for the 2016 season.

Spring training could be the only thing Braves fans can look forward to this year, but for now, there's a sense of optimism and promise for the future.