MLB

Here’s a look at the 2014 Lester’s Legends’ shortstop rankings for AL-only fantasy baseball leagues.


1. Jose Reyes, Toronto Blue Jays

Jose Reyes was limited to 96 games, but he hit .296 with 58 runs, 10 home runs, 37 RBI and 15 stolen bases. If he can stay healthy, he will give you a big boost in runs, average and stolen bases.


2. Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers

With the top 150 fantasy baseball players reordered and re-ranked on the latest Big Board, it's time to continue rolling out the individual position rankings.

It's March and Ervin Santana is still sitting out there in free agency without a home. The Kansas City Royals still have a glaring hole at the top of their starting rotation. 

The solution for both sides would seem to be pretty simple at this point: a one-year deal for the $14.1 million qualifying offer that Santana turned down at the start of free agency. It allows both sides to save face and move forward for the 2014 season.

With spring training well underway throughout Major League Baseball, the evaluative process is already in the works for the Washington Nationals, as they look to put the best 25-man product on the field that they can.

Baseball's first month can set the tone for the entire season. As such, manager Matt Williams must be sure he produces an optimal roster to compete in the competitive National League East.

The St. Louis Cardinals reached the World Series last season for the fourth time in the last decade, and they did so with a roster of mostly homegrown players. Even after losing Carlos Beltran to free agency, the Cardinals were viewed as potential contenders headed into 2014 given the holdovers from last year’s club.

Spring training is in full swing and the St. Louis Cardinals are creating plenty of buzz. The reigning National League champions have a stacked roster at the major league level. It is the continued improvement of the players in the farm system that keeps the fans coming back for more early in spring.

Considered a weakness for the Toronto Blue Jays going into last season, the team’s bullpen ironically turned out to be its biggest strength.

With the starting rotation struggling to pitch deep into games and often leaving in the early innings, the Blue Jays’ relievers ended up taking on that extra load and kept the team in most games.

Despite pitching the second-highest number of innings in the American League, Toronto’s bullpen finished the season with a 3.37 ERA, fourth lowest in the AL.

There is plenty of optimism surrounding the New York Mets heading into the 2014 season, but is there too much at this point in the spring?

John Harper of the New York Daily News reported on February 27 that Mets general manager Sandy Alderson set a goal of 90 wins in a meeting with team executives.

With the second pick in the 2008 MLB amateur draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected third baseman Pedro Alvarez.  As the Pirates have done so often in the last decade, they picked a gem, and Alvarez has a huge pull on the success of Pittsburgh in 2014.  

If you missed it, Major League Baseball took its first step into a brave new world on Monday. 

Nearly two months after the league announced that expanded replay would be implemented in 2014, the league made replay available for a test drive in three spring training exhibitions on Monday: Blue Jays vs. Twins, Angels vs. Diamondbacks and Cubs vs. Brewers.