AL East

Josh Beckett, John Lackey and Jonathan Papelbon each face the daunting challenge of regaining the old velocity and movement on their fastballs.  That's a hard thing for any pitcher to do when their fastball has begun to decline.  

He's young, athletic, has a cannon for an arm and makes the game look easy. He has one of the sweetest-looking swings in the game and is as sure-handed a defender as they come.

It's time to show Robinson Cano some love.

For the past several years, Cano has been cementing himself as one of the elite second basemen in the league. Cano sports a lifetime .309/.347/.489 slash line in six seasons in the major leagues.

In trying to assess players at Spring Training for the Boston Red Sox this season one can take several different approaches from a few different angles. You can look at those current roster players on the depth chart and say you need to pay attention to those guys since they are slated to play in the majors as it stands today, or you can look at the guys who have made their living in the minors and are ready to make the jump by replacing the major leaguers if they slip up in Ft. Myers this spring.

With the retirement of Andy Pettitte, the New York Yankees' fabled "Core Four" is now a "Core Three," which isn't nearly as catchy.

The Yankees locked up shortstop Derek Jeter for another four years and closer Mariano Rivera for another two, but Jorge Posada, who will serve as the team's primary DH this season as the Yankees move him away from full-time catching duties, is likely entering his final season with the team.

By this time next year, the Yankees could be down to a "Core Two" of Rivera and Jeter.

The Red Sox have all the pieces necessary in order to boast the league's best offense. They have the speed demons in Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford, they have the guys who seemingly always get on base in J.D. Drew and Dustin Pedroia and they have the guys to drive in these base runners in David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez.

The next step for the Sox is to strategically place these players in an order in which they will thrive. Before getting into the specifics of who should bat where, let us begin by establishing the 'definition' of a batting order.

Bubble bubble boil and rubble…Storied franchise in major trouble.

Former All-Stars missing games…Drama drives a coach insane.

Who will win the NL west? Is San Francisco still the best?

Who will rise and who will fall? Look inside my crystal ball…

As we explore what will unfold…When next year’s season’s story is told.

In the first installment we take a peek…At the AL west…Who’s strong?  Who’s weak?

This slideshow is going to run through the top 10 pitchers the Yankees should be looking at right now.  You will see, though, that some of these guys could be long shots.  The Yankees do need to look at some pitchers right now because of the absence of Andy Pettitte, who officially announced his retirement last Friday.  This creates a huge void, as the team needs someone outside CC who could become a surefire ace.

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Via Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:

This just in: the Red Sox have signed Alfredo Aceves to a Major League deal.

This stings.

Via Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram:

[Michael Young] is willing to be traded to eight teams, according to a source: St. Louis, Minnesota, Houston, Colorado, San Diego, the New York Yankees and both teams in Los Angeles.

Via Joel Sherman of the NY Post: