MLB

First, Cubs fans had to wait for months for the team to sign ace Jon Lester. Now, it has seemed like an even more excruciating wait for spring training since there's so much excitement surrounding this much-improved team. 

Opening Day is just two months away, and, for the first time in five years, there is hope on the north side of Chicago. The front-office tandem of Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have stayed the course, and 2015 may be the first year the fruits of their labor are rewarded with 80-plus wins.

Some MLB players are simply indispensable. 

Clayton Kershaw fit that description during his historically dominant 2014 season. The lefty ace won 21 of his 27 starts, which made him the first pitcher to accomplish that feat in 134 years, per ESPN Stats & Info. 

Whether or not the fractured relationship between the New York Yankees front office and Alex Rodriguez can be completely repaired, general manager Brian Cashman is going to give it a shot. 

Forget the silly chatter of abolishing defensive shifts or the fact that James Shields is still a free agent. The biggest storyline in Major League Baseball right now is when and where Cuban phenom Yo

Hitting may put fans in the stands, but pitching still wins championships, and that was never more clear than last season when Madison Bumgarner led the San Francisco Giants to a World Series title.

It's been a busy offseason on the pitching market, with Max Scherzer and Jon Lester heading this year's free-agent class of starters. The third ace-caliber arm on the market, James Shields, has yet to sign and could certainly shake things up between now and Opening Day.

All 30 MLB teams emphasize building from within and cultivating their own homegrown talent. A lot of it has to do with payroll, as small-market teams are forced to get the most out of their controllable young assets, while big-market teams can afford to deal prospects and spend big in free agency

The Detroit Tigers appeared to have all of their major roster spots sewn up not so long ago. But things can change in a hurry.

The injury bug has bitten this franchise again, which will force some significant shake-ups in the weeks to come.

With Major League Baseball implementing things like testing for performance-enhancing drugs, a second Wild Card and instant replay within the last 10 years, you wonder where the league could go next. What other changes could be made?

Oh, there are ideas. In fact, with new commissioner Rob Manfred officially taking over for Bud Selig last week, the air is thick with them.

Spring training is a few weeks away, and it will be a time where top prospects can show their potential in front of fans, major league players and coaches.

Some prospects, of course, will be more developed than others, but the ones who are more developed will likely be aiming to make the Opening Day roster out of spring training.

I've cautioned in the past about the perils of overvaluing prospects. Because of that, there's a nasty misnomer out there that I'm anti-farm system.

On the contrary, I completely recognize the worth of having a young stable of up-and-comers. It's paramount to develop that talent for the future of any franchise. My quibble is that when you're a team with the payroll ceiling of the Boston Red Sox, you're not always nurturing the skills of those prospects for yourself.