As pitchers and catchers report for duty, baseball fans can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Before long, the 2014 Major League Baseball season will begin.
After a long, cold winter, baseball is back.
For most of us, the wait was endless. If you latched onto the hot-stove season, disappointment likely followed.
Sure, Masahiro Tanaka arrived, Alex Rodriguez departed and Prince Fielder and Doug Fister were involved in blockbuster trades. But for die-hard fans, headline-grabbing moves and legacy-altering suspensions can’t rival actual baseball. For those ready for the game, it’s time to look ahead at how the season could unfold.
With some rosters undecided, free agents still available and trade candidates loitering around many teams, predicting how the regular season will play out is no easy task.
Luckily, we’re up for the challenge here at Bleacher Report. Over the next six weeks, these predictions are subject to change. For now, the following is a look at how the 2014 Major League Baseball standings should play out.
Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Arbitration numbers and projections courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors. Roster projections courtesy of MLB Depth Charts.