2012 MLB Spring Training

Coming into the 2012 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers are looking to pitch their way back into relevance. Behind the dominance of Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw, the consistency of Ted Lilly and the hopeful reemergence of Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers added two quality free agent starting pitchers this offseason.

Do you think the Sizemore family doesn't matter?

Just ask the Cleveland Indians and the Oakland Athletics, who already have lost one of their own in training camp and been left to scramble for replacements.

The Yankees dropped their first game of the spring today against the Phillies in Bright House Park.

Fans got their first chance to see the team's biggest offseason acquisition, Michael Pineda, in his start today against Joe Blanton.

The 2012 New York Mets still have a lot of question marks going into the upcoming season. While Jason Bay's hitting, David Wright's trade possibility and the health of Johan Santana are going to be three big topics of discussion throughout the entire season, no other Met is as big of an X-factor to the team's potential success than Mike Pelfrey.

In his first start of spring training and as a member of the New York Yankees, Michael Pineda looked very strong over the two scoreless innings of work he put in against the Philadelphia Phillies today.

The 2012 MLB season is getting closer, and teams are currently seeing which prospects have the stuff to make it to the big leagues at some point this season, and which prospects still need to improve on a particular area before being promoted.

The New York Yankees are no exception. Although most of their 25-man roster is likely set, there are still a number of prospects who have the potential to find their way onto the major league roster at some this year.

The Chicago White Sox went all in in 2011.

They busted.

When that happens, those who had losing hands are supposed to walk away from the table. Of the people principally responsible for the collapse, though, only two—manager Ozzie Guillen, hitting coach Greg Walker and pitcher Mark Buehrle—actually exited.

The past five seasons have been unkind to the Oakland Athletics. The team has been stuck in no man’s land as getting just 80 wins has proven to be a difficult task. Oakland has missed the playoffs for five straight years. Their best season in that stretch came in 2010 when the team finished at .500 with 81 wins.

The Chicago White Sox have most of their usual suspects returning to the everyday lineup in 2012. Manager Robin Ventura is charged with the task of putting together a regular batting order on his lineup card. One area in which Ventura is considering a change is the second spot in the order.

Ventura is making a case for catcher A.J. Pierzynski to inhabit that spot. Pierzynski did not bat in the second slot all season in 2011, though he did spend most of the 2008 season there.

It would be misleading to characterize second base as a position of scarcity in 2012.

Yes, there are no certifiable facsimiles of Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, Rickie Weeks, Chase Utley, Ben Zobrist, Brandon Phillips or Dan Uggla after the first 60 picks of a 12-team, mixed-league draft.