AL East

With right around a month separating us from spring training, there have to be some positive feelings amongst Boston Red Sox fans heading into 2013 as the team has made a number of moves to improve their roster in the improving AL East.

Between the addition of Ryan Dempster to the starting rotation and Joel Hanrahan as the team's closer, the pitching staff has gotten a jolt after seeing Josh Beckett depart last summer.

The Boston Red Sox entered this offseason with an impossibly long checklist. They needed a new manager, for starters, and then they had to go on a scavenger hunt for talent.

The New York Yankees have conducted business during this offseason under a mandate from principal owner Hal Steinbrenner. The team's payroll must be under the $189 million luxury tax threshold for 2014.

Earlier in the week, Mike Morse's name was added to the trading block.

The New York Yankees are one of about six or seven teams that have been confirmed to have interest in the Washington Nationals hitter.

If ever there was an excuse for the Boston Red Sox to walk away from Mike Napoli, a trade for Washington Nationals slugger Mike Morse is it.

As I highlighted in my ranking of the New York Yankees’ top 10 prospects, the organization has numerous young, projectable players on the rise, but very few capable of contributing in the major leagues during the 2013 season.

Why should the Boston Red Sox continue to try and finalize a contract with a doomed Mike Napoli when there are better options on the table? That’s right, they shouldn’t.

The market for Cuban prospect Aledmys Diaz should begin to unfold this week in the wake of the shortstop’s 23rd birthday on Tuesday. He was officially declared a free agent last month after establishing residency (in Mexico) during the previous month.

Now, under Major League Baseball’s latest collective bargaining agreement, the team that signs Diaz will not be subject to international signing restrictions. Similarly, he is free to command a higher contract.

In what is another bizarre chapter in the career of Alex Rodriguez as a member of the New York Yankees, the controversial slugger may have once again soiled his image while donning the pinstripes.

First, it was Scott Hairston.

Then, it was Vernon Wells and even Lance Berkman.

Now, there's a new name that has entered the Hot Stove of rumors involving the New York Yankees.

With a little over a month to go until pitchers and catchers report, the Yankees' search for a bat continues.