Shaun Marcum

The latest free-agent buzz in Major League Baseball has surrounded three clients of Scott Boras, all currently left out in the cold of winter with spring training fast approaching.

Rafael Soriano, Kyle Lohse and Michael Bourn have yet to find new homes this offseason, in large part because all three are attached to draft-pick compensation after their former employers extended them qualifying offers.

The 2013 offseason has been relatively busy for the Chicago Cubs.

Despite the fact that the Cubs are still in a rebuilding phase, they went out and signed starting pitchers Scott Baker (h/t ESPN Chicago) and Edwin Jackson (h/t ESPN Chicago).

The Brewers just finished up their first of three games in a weekend series against the rival Chicago Cubs at Miller Park. Let me say that the game was not played crisply by either club. The 7-4 loss dropped the Brewers' record to 3-5 on the season.

It was recently announced that the Milwaukee Brewers acquired Yankees' pitcher Sergio Mitre in a deal that sent outfielder Chris Dickerson to New York in return.

At the moment, this seems like a win-win situation for both teams: New York announced that Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia will round out the rotation, and Bartolo Colon will move to the bullpen, most likely as a long reliever, a role which Mitre possessed last season.

With the rash of injuries that have hit the Milwaukee Brewers this spring, Crew fans are wondering when it's going to stop. 

It seems like it's a case of "when it rains, it pours," after Shaun Marcum left his start against the Chicago White Sox early.

After working three scoreless innings and only allowing one hit, Marcum complained of shoulder stiffness and was removed from the game.

He missed his next start and was shut down from throwing for almost a week.

One of the more important aspects of drafting in fantasy sports is finding a solid “sleeper.” As most of you know, a sleeper is a player who is ranked low in the draft, but turns in gold numbers during the season.

With the fantasy baseball season rapidly approaching, and mock-draft lobbies filling up in anticipation, let’s take a look at potential pitching sleepers for this year.

Madison Bumgarner

Shaun Marcum broke through in 2010. He finally suprassed 30 starts, albeit after missing 2009 entirely, and was a top 15 AL pitcher. With a nearly 4/1 K/BB ratio, a 1.15 WHIP, and less hits than innings pitched (in the AL East no less), Marcum showed he is ready for prime time.

Now, a year later, with the Jays in salary cutting mode after unloading Vernon Wells, Marcum finds himself a key member as a top three starter for the early season NL Central favorite Milwaukee.

With all the hype and hope the Blue Jays injected into their fans with their play of last year, there is one thing everyone is forgetting when looking forward to this year. The simple way of putting it: they are going to fail this year.

Generally, I'm one to stick to the team and players and project big years from all involved. However, it seems like the doom and gloom media and fans have all either had a change of heart with Anthopoulos' steady hand at the helm, or they have all finally given up.

With the 26^th ranked ERA in the majors last year, the Brew Crew went to work this off-season to improve their rotation. Sought-after pitcher Zack Greinke is coming off a disappointing 2010, but was last year truly a fluke? Or will the Newer Brewer Shaun Marcum outpitch Greinke this season? It sure is getting exciting in Milwaukee this year.

At first glance, it would appear as if the Toronto Blue Jays have had a quiet offseason.

There were no big contracts, no major deals, no guys named Greinke or Ramirez. 

In fact, they seemed to lose more players than they acquired: Scott Downs, Brian Tallet, Kevin Gregg, All-Star catcher John Buck and first baseman Lyle Overbay have all signed elsewhere. 

Oh, and they traded Shaun Marcum, their Opening Day starter, for prospect Brett Lawrie.