AL East

Despite hurling some of his best stuff in five years (1-0/2.40/15 IP/17 K), Bartolo Colon will start his season with the Yankees in the bullpen.

Yankees skipper Joe Girardi announced Sunday that the team will round out their rotation with Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia as their fourth and fifth starters.

Last Year

85-77, 4th in AL East 

Manager: John Farrell 

PROJECTED LINEUP

C - JP Arencibia (R)

1B - Adam Lind (L)

2B - Aaron Hill (R)

3B - Jose Bautista (R)

SS - Yunel Escobar (R)

LF - Travis Snider (L)

CF - Rajai Davis (R)

RF - Juan Rivera (R)

DH - Edwin Encarnacion (R)

Fantasy pools are not exactly an exact science, mainly due to the unpredictable nature of sports.  But from looking at past numbers, health, age and any particular player's track record, you can often predict what a player is capable of.

The Toronto Blue Jays are starting to have a lot of interesting fantasy options, something that wasn't always the case in past years.  They led the league in home runs last year, a category they will likely have strong numbers in again this year.

This is the sixth offering in my series of All-Franchise teams. Since Tampa Bay along with Florida are relatively new franchises, I have relaxed the rules a tad for the two. There is no minimum requirement as to tenure with the franchise. Unlike most franchises you will not find any current Hall of Famers on this list.

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No player has felt the demand to perform every plate appearance like Alex Rodriguez has since Dave Winfield was nicknamed Mr. May in the 1980’s. However, this week there were several instances of Yankee fans going to bat—so to speak—for Rodriguez over Derek Jeter.

On Saturday, Yankees' manager Joe Girardi announced the final spot in his rotation would go to Freddy Garcia, effectively ending the spring training battle between Garcia and fellow offseason signing, Bartolo Colon. Colon will start the year in the bullpen as the long reliever. 

Matt Garza's a Cub. Ditto for Carlos Pena. Jason Bartlett is a Padre. Rafael Soriano now calls the Bronx home. Grant Balfour's in Oakland. Carl Crawford is, of course, now a Boston Red Sox, as is Dan Wheeler. Dioner Navarro? He's a Dodger.

After a winter heavy on exits and light on entrances, Tampa Bay entered camp this spring with prognostications of hopeless mediocrity.

The contending team of the past three seasons? Lost to the winds of financial reality, which has never been a happy reality for the Rays.

Without question, first base is the deepest position for everyday players, and you should expect the top seven or eight first basemen to be drafted in the first two rounds of your 12-team league.

Some players on our list played 10-19 games at first base in 2010, which means the player may or may not qualify as a first baseman in your league. For example, Yahoo! leagues require a player to appear in at least ten games at that position in the previous year. Whereas for ESPN leagues, the requirement is 20-plus games.

The Red Sox had the most disappointing season of any team in baseball a year ago. 

General Manager Theo Epstein went out and was extremely aggressive in the offseason.  They went out and acquired Adrian Gonzalez via trade before the winter meetings.  Then they signed Carl Crawford to a seven-year $142 million contract.

Boston also made some under-the-radar signings to bolster the bullpen by signing Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler.

Is this the year that Baltimore finally breaks out?

They have arguably one of the more dangerous lineups in the American League, but the pitching is young and unproven.  If the O's can get some solid production from the staff, it's a possibility that Baltimore can eclipse the .500 mark for the first time in 13 years.

Buck Showalter was brought in to become the new manager in August and did a remarkable job.  The O's went 34-23 under Showalter during August and September.

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