2013 MLB Spring Training

Heading into the 2013 MLB season, the New York Mets will be an intriguing team to follow. With good health and a few lucky breaks, they could be competitive throughout the summer.

Overall, this club wasn't impressive in 2012. New York finished fourth in the NL East standings (again) and drew the lowest total attendance since opening Citi Field.

Even though spring training is only a few days old, there are numerous highly regarded prospects that have already generated a favorable buzz. Granted, it has come in the form of a batting practice session or light bullpen—but hey, it counts.

Clayton Blackburn, Kyle Crick and Chris Stratton—the San Francisco Giants' top three prospects according to Marc Hulet of FanGraphs—won't be in big league camp this spring. None of those three pitching prospects have pitched above A-ball yet, so Giants fans will have to remain patient on that front.

For the second time in three years, the San Francisco Giants will enter spring training with the feeling of being World Series champions. 

However, there are still some questions that need to be answered and some concerns about the defending champions.

For a number of years, the New York Mets have had the distinction of having one of the worst farm systems in Baseball. Between poor drafts and unwisely trading away prospects for washed-up Major Leaguers, the Mets have not had the luxury of tapping into homegrown talent.

After a busy offseason for the Oakland A's, they will fight to retain their standing on top of the American League West.

During said offseason, the A's have moved around a lot of infielders through addition and subtraction.

Gone are the days of Cliff Pennington at shortstop or second base, after he was traded to Arizona. Stephen Drew is gone as well after being the A's shortstop down the stretch.  

Baseball season is finally back, and over the next two weeks, players will gather from across the country and begin the long journey with dreams of postseason glory.

While Spring Training may seem like a random hodge podge of exhibition games between players who will likely not see the major leagues, it is actually a carefully scripted preparation for the toils of a 162-game season.

Hopes are high for young St. Louis Cardinals going into spring training, but how many of them will make the big step to the major league team?

Bubble players throughout MLB have prepped all winter in an effort to be ready to put on a good showing when they arrive at spring training.

A bubble player is a player who is on the verge of either making the team or getting cut. They can be young or old, but most often people think of young players.

For a team that was struggling for pitching depth about a week ago, the Seattle Mariners seem to be intent on having as many options as possible heading into the 2013 season.

When spring training begins next week, teams will have dozens of players to get a good look at in the weeks to come before the season arrives.

All the while, they'll have a magic number in mind: 25. They need to take a couple dozen and somehow, some way cut it down to 25.

This is going to involve saying "thanks, but no thanks" to the majority of the non-roster invitees they've invited along for the ride. For non-roster invitees, spring training may as well be one great big Thunderdome: Many will enter, few will leave.