As play heats up in Arizona and Florida, the start of the regular season moves closer to reality for baseball fans. Yet, despite the calendar inching toward spring, winter isn’t over for some teams.
Offseason activity still exists, especially within free agent circles impacted by draft compensation, lingering trade activity and teams looking to find the missing piece to a complete 25-man roster.
Although we’re finally to the point where play on the field overshadows the rumor mill, the hot stove isn’t totally cool just yet. For more than a handful of teams, upgrades are still available for the right price.
Over the next four weeks, the rumor mill will churn out narratives, stories and juicy tidbits for fans to devour before the real games arrive. Of those, only some will have real meaning. The others will simply be noise.
The following is an attempt to separate fact from fiction during the busy, frantic days of spring training.
Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Roster projections courtesy of MLB Depth Charts.