MLB

At this point of the MLB season, it's all about spring training as players get tuned up for 2014 in Arizona and Florida.

While trades during spring training are pretty rare, the MLB trade rumor mill is still alive with a few rumblings that involve a couple of starters and other players that could have big impacts this season.

Here's a look at the latest buzz from around the league on the trade front.

Going into the offseason, the Seattle Mariners obviously weren't satisfied with their production up the middle. To address their concern, the Mariners boldly handed Robinson Cano a $240 million contract to man second base for the next decade. And with the more defensively apt Brad Miller entrenched at shortstop, it leaves 22-year-old Nick Franklin without a starting job.

The Kansas City Royals finished the 2013 spring training with a record of 25-7, and fans were excited to see the potential of the young guns on this team.  

The long-awaited debut of Masahiro Tanaka finally took place Saturday afternoon, when the New York Yankees' prized pitcher took the mound for two innings of spring training work against the Philadelphia Phillies.

In March, it's common to introduce an opinion of a player or performance by reminding readers that it's very early, spring training statistics don't count and the real games are about a month away from reality.

With New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, that edict isn't just necessary—it's vital.

Spring training statistics can be horribly misleading. With so many young, inexperienced prospects in big league camp, it’s imperative that all numbers be analyzed within context. At the same time, it’s hard not to get excited when a prospect makes an immediate impact.

The future of MLB analytics is finally here.

During the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, MLB Advanced Metrics (MLBAM) CEO Bob Bowman unveiled a brand-new player tracking system that will keep track of every play on the field and include things like the path of the ball, the ball's speed off the bat, the route efficiency of outfielders and a lot more.

With the top 150 fantasy baseball players all reordered and reranked on the latest big board, it's time to continue rolling out the individual position rankings.

The Minnesota Twins got the news they were dreading Saturday morning. Their top prospect, Miguel Sano, will have Tommy John surgery and miss the 2014 season, as reported by ESPN.com.

While high-profile free agent signings and blockbuster trades are what makes baseball's offseason the most interesting and intriguing in all of sports, the overshadowed, under-the-radar moves often prove to be equally as important to a team's success in the upcoming season.

You won't find any perennial All-Stars, MVP candidates or Cy Young Award contenders on this list, instead it is comprised of five players that don't get much attention—but who will make their new general managers look like baseball savants for adding them to their respective rosters.