Kuzul

It’s not easy to get a bad grade just yet.

After breaking out the red pen and grading the MLB offseason’s 20 biggest acquisitions, there is a startling number of high marks. Simply put, just over a week’s worth of games isn’t much time for a lot to go wrong.

For big-money free-agent signings and prominent trade additions, spring training is all about staying healthy. As a result, ending up on the injury report is the surest way for a player to see his grade take a hit.

In the process of ranking the top 20 acquisitions, two primary criteria were taken into consideration:

1. 2014 stats
2. Predicted 2015 impact

As for the grading criteria, stats are just a small part of the equation since most players have appeared in just five games. The far more important concerns are how the players are fitting in with their new teams and whether they’re managing to stay healthy.

There is one star on the list who sees his grade drop not because of a health problem that he is dealing with, but rather because of an injury sustained by a teammate.

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Through the first nine games of spring training at Camelback Ranch, it’s clear that the Los Angeles Dodgers are beginning to shake off the winter rust.

Most of the players are, anyway.

Some members of the team have yet to find their rhythm on the mound and in the batter’s box. While the sample size is small, these players will need to turn things around if they have aspirations of making the 25-man roster when camp breaks in less than three weeks.

Here’s the shortlist of early-spring disappointments for the Boys in Blue.

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The early parts of spring training have given us a glimpse as to what the roster may look like come Opening Day.

It’s an important spring for a number of guys, given the large amount of turnover the Atlanta Braves had this offseason.

Spring training offers the chance for guys to win starting positions. This looks to be the case at second base, left field, two starting rotation spots and a number of bullpen spots.

It’s also a chance for young prospects to get their first taste of MLB-caliber pitching and leave a good impression on management.

Although it’s still early, a few guys have turned heads for the Braves this spring.

Let’s take a look at five players who have done just that.

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1. Masahiro Tanaka: Do We Really Know the Percentages?

TAMPA, Fla. — Every single Masahiro Tanaka pitch is being watched closely this spring, and surely the bad news involving Yu Darvish out of Texas’ camp over the weekend didn’t make the Yankees feel any better about the whole situation.

Nevertheless, one of the biggest keys to the Yankees’ season forges ahead, and so far Tanaka has cleared every hurdle. He threw 29 pitches in a simulated game Saturday and is slotted to make his first Grapefruit League start Thursday against the Braves.

He looks good, feels good, and the Yankees do not necessarily read as bad news that pitchers from Chad Billingsley to Dylan Bundy tried rehabbing a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament—just like Tanaka—and wound up needing Tommy John ligament transfer surgery anyway.

“I don’t know if we know [percentages] because there probably are guys who are pitching with it and never have a problem,” Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild told Bleacher Report. “So I’m not so sure how much actual knowledge we have.

“You can draw conclusions.”

But the conclusion to be drawn from Billingsley is not necessarily the conclusion to be drawn from someone else.

Take Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright, who missed all of 2011 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Wainwright was diagnosed with a partially torn UCL his junior year of high school…and successfully rehabbed and then pitched, avoiding surgery.

Six years later, pitching in Triple-A for St. Louis, same thing, same result: rehab, no surgery, return to pitching.

“I tell people, ‘If you can avoid surgery, do it,'” Wainwright said during a conversation at the Cards’ camp in Jupiter, Fla. “You don’t want to have Tommy John surgery unless you have to.

“Some pitchers don’t come back from that.”

It is true that, today, the surgery has been “perfected” as much as a surgery can be perfected. But that doesn’t guarantee 100 percent success; just ask the Padres’ Cory Luebke, who hasn’t pitched since April 27, 2012, after needing a second Tommy John surgery when the first one didn’t take. Arizona’s Daniel Hudson suffered the same fate.

“I’ve heard that some high school parents want their kid to undergo Tommy John surgery so they can come back stronger, and that’s just not always the case,” Wainwright says. “So if you can rehab and avoid surgery, it’s worth a try.”

Billingsley, then pitching for the Dodgers, took that route after injuring his elbow in August, 2012. By the spring of 2013, Billingsley looked great and passed every spring training test.

“During the process, they tried everything to get me to fail,” said Billingsley, now working on completing his comeback with the Phillies, in Clearwater, Fla. “They were not babying me. I pitched a simulated game and hit 92 mph, then 94 and 95, and my elbow felt fine.”

Two starts into the season, he was done. His surgery was in April, 2013.

“When it started bugging me again, it almost felt like tendinitis,” Billingsley said. “It took a couple of innings to get loose in games. It was a gradual deterioration.”

Billingsley is just about back to full speed this spring: Doctors have told him he can let it rip, full-bore, “whenever I’m mentally ready to let it go.” Last week, Billingsley wasn’t quite to that point yet, but he was getting closer.

In Sarasota, Fla., Bundy, the Orioles’ No. 1 pick (fourth overall) in the 2011 draft, made his spring debut last week. Following his quick ascension to Baltimore in 2012 at the age of 19 (two games, 1.2 innings pitched), Bundy underwent Tommy John surgery in June, 2013 (and notably, his older brother Bobby, also a pitcher in the Orioles system, needed Tommy John surgery three months later).

From a distance, Bundy watches Tanaka and hopes for the best.

“It’s such a crucial ligament in your throwing motion,” Bundy said. “If you’re even a little nicked up, it’s going to hurt.”

So Tanaka, who signed a seven-year, $155 million deal with the Yankees last winter, moves through his spring, full-speed ahead, with the Yankees on high alert. While in Texas, Darvish, who was shut down in early August last year and tried rehabbing, will be in New York for a second opinion Tuesday and is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery.

“If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Tanaka. “Hopefully he gets through the year healthy.”

On that, pretty much everybody can agree.

“I’m a fan of great pitching,” Wainwright said, and Tanaka’s wipeout splitter and slider last year qualified as great pitching. Stay tuned.

2. Is the NL West Soft or Just Unlucky?

Excuse the Rangers if it seems the injury to Darvish is simply an extension of their rash of injuries over the past few years. They led the majors in 2014 in disabled list days, and it wasn’t close. Check out the rest of the top five:

Rangers: 2,281 days.

Diamondbacks: 1,448 days.

Padres: 1,373 days.

Dodgers: 1,229 days.

Rockies: 1,110 days.

Source: Elias Sports Bureau.

3. Replacing Derek Jeter

Say this for the Alex Rodriguez Clown Show: In a twisted way, it’s not a bad thing for the Yankees, because the rest of them are pretty much preparing for 2015 in the shadows of the media spotlight.

Case in point: new shortstop Didi Gregorius.

You would think the man designated to replace Derek Jeter would be doing so under a high-powered microscope. Instead, while everyone sizes up A-Rod for another back-page moment, Gregorius told B/R the other day he’s been surprised at how few interviews he’s done.

Not a bad thing for the man from Curacao who traveled with the Diamondbacks for their season-opening series against the Dodgers in Australia last year but then was optioned to Triple-A Reno upon Arizona’s return.

“I didn’t go to Triple-A bitter,” Gregorius said. “I played even harder and got called back up after two months.”

It is this attitude that gives him a chance in New York. He’s bigger than you would think at 6’2″, 205 pounds, and his hands are fairly large. His defense is sensational; it’s his bat that needs to come around.

“I saw him a lot in Arizona when I was in San Diego and I always thought there’s a higher upside to his offense than he’s given credit for,” third baseman Chase Headley said. “I really liked his swing. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and he carries himself well.”

Which also positions him to succeed.

“There’s not a lot of situations to slide into like the one he’s sliding into,” Headley said. “No matter what he does, it’s not going to be Derek. So just helping him if he’s down, if he’s scuffling like any other player, will be important.”

4. Jailbreak and Fastballs

One thing we know: That $210 million contract hasn’t caused Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer to lose his sense of humor.

When asked the other day how he’s fitting in with Washington, he immediately mentioned Jayson Werth and grinned.

“Make fun of Werthy going to jail, you fit right in,” Scherzer quipped to B/R. “That’s gold.”

Werth, of course, famously spent time in jail this winter on a reckless driving charge.

5. Cash and Credit in Tampa Bay

There seemed to be a last-man-out-turn-off-the-lights vibe in Tampa Bay over the winter after general manager Andrew Friedman left for the Los Angeles Dodgers and field manager Joe Maddon scooted to the Chicago Cubs. 

The aftermath? New Rays manager Kevin Cash is getting rave reviews in Port Charlotte for his communication skills, knowledge and reflexes.

A former catcher for the Blue Jays, Rays, Red Sox, Astros and Yankees, Cash, only 37, is viewed as a future managerial star by many. Given his years with the Red Sox (2007-08, 2010), it is not surprising he says Terry Francona and John Farrell (now Boston’s manager, then the pitching coach) are the two men who most influenced his managerial philosophy.

“I was lucky,” Cash said. “I played for some managers who were great communicators.

“So if I screw that part up, it’s on me.”

6. Minnesota’s Metric System

Between reuniting with old friends and mentoring the Twins’ many prospects (Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Aaron Hicks, etc.), Torii Hunter, 39, has been sidestepping sabermetric zingers about his deteriorating fielding skills.

According to Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average defensive metric, Hunter was a minus-10.8 in right field for Detroit in 2014, and a minus-13.0 in 2013. According to FanGraphs’ Ultimate Zone Ratings, Hunter checked in at minus-18.3. All of those numbers are exceptionally low.

Unfamiliar territory for a nine-time Gold Glove winner. Twins general manager Terry Ryan, who signed Hunter to a one-year, $10.5 million deal for reasons having to do with both Hunter’s continued ability to play and his mentoring abilities, will let it play out.

“I know all of the metric stuff about Torii,” Ryan said. “It is what it is. We’re going to watch.

“That defensive metric stuff is tough. Sometimes, it seems misleading. Sometimes, it seems legitimate.”

7. Hanley Ramirez: Hard Hat Area?

No, the Red Sox have not outfitted Hanley Ramirez with a batting helmet while he works in left field this spring.

Ramirez is fully on board, saying he hasn’t played shortstop yet this spring and doesn’t want to, adding, “I’m an outfielder now.”

“It’s all about winning,” Ramirez said. “I’m putting in a lot of work. They want me to be comfortable, so there’s a lot of early work.”

Said Red Sox manager John Farrell: “His work has been very consistent, and [that] has everything to do with Hanley’s attitude and work he’s doing with [Boston first-base coach and outfield instructor] Arnie Beyeler. He’s taking caroms and hops [off the Fort Myers-replica Green Monster wall].

“We feel strongly that by April 4 he’ll be adequate and will continue to improve.”

Good thing. Being that the Red Sox open the season at Philadelphia on April 6, that would put him ahead of schedule.

8. Trade Winds Stall in Clearwater

Yes, it’s a game of timing, and not just on the field. Often in the GM’s office, too.

Given that Cliff Lee’s elbow is sore again, Ruben Amaro Jr. very well might have blown his best chance to deal the one-time ace left-hander.

The soreness is in the same area of his elbow that caused the Phillies to shut him down last July 31.

“I just don’t have any idea where we’re going to go from there,” Amaro told reporters Sunday, in what could have doubled as the club’s overall trade philosophy, too.

The Phils’ spring started with a ludicrously uncomfortable press conference with Cole Hamels after Hamels was quoted in USA Today saying he wants to win and, essentially, endorsing a trade. When Hamels reported to camp shortly after that story, he met the media in a large room and was peppered with questions while Phillies club officials (including president David Montgomery) were in the back of the room.

The Phillies inexplicably stood pat at last summer’s July 31 trade deadline. Then they finally traded Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers over the winter, but Lee, Hamels and Ryan Howard remain in uniform while a much-needed overhaul is delayed.

Lee is a free agent after this season. If the elbow injury cuts too deeply into 2015, the Phillies will be unable to deal him by the July trade deadline, and the idea of acquiring prospects for him will be gone for good.

9. The Secret Life of Baseball Bees

You go, Ned Yost, sticking up for bees. Attaboy.

While the Angels and Royals waited Sunday for the pest control diablos to clear the swarm of bees at Tempe Diablo Stadium, the Kansas City manager simmered. And good for him.

“I’ve seen it before, but I’ve never seen mass bee genocide like that, though,” Yost told reporters in Arizona. “All you have to do is get some smoke…

“Trust me, I’m from the country. I live in the country. You take some smoke out there because the queen is in there somewhere, and you get a Shop-Vac and suck ’em all in and take ’em out to the parking lot and let them go…

“They’re just honey bees, man. There’s a decline in honey bees. We need ’em. It was sad to see.”

9a. Rock ‘n’ Roll Lyric of the Week

“Come on now, give me some sugar
“Give me some sugar, little honey bee
“Don’t be afraid, not gonna hurt you
“I wouldn’t hurt my little honey bee
“Don’t say a word, ’bout what we’re doin’
“Don’t say nothin’ little honey bee
“Don’t tell your momma, don’t tell your sister
“Don’t tell your boyfriend, little honey bee
“She like to call me king bee
“She like to buzz ’round my tree
“Oh call her honey bee”

—Tom Petty, “Honey Bee”

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. 

Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The New York Yankees are just a week into spring games, but several players have already started to create some buzz in camp.

The “buzz” we’ll look at here is good buzz, of course. No A-Rod bashing, no harping on health issues, just standout performances that are starting to gain some extra notoriety.

Though there are a number of very deserving candidates, I narrowed this list down to six players who have all put up exemplary performances down in the Grapefruit League. 

The group features a nice mix of pitching and offense, but one thing most of these players have in common is their lack of MLB experience. The early portions of spring training are dominated by prospects, and this article is no exception, as five of the six players included are void of any MLB experience.

So, to keep you up on all things spring training, here’s a look at six players turning heads early on in the New York camp.

All stats are current through play on March 8, 2015, courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Immediately, you recognize the infectious smile from a mile away. Pure Panda. So is the laughter and the joy.

And inside the Boston Red Sox clubhouse, nothing about Panda says San Francisco anymore.

Leaving the Giants?

“Not hard at all,” Pablo Sandoval told Bleacher Report during an early-morning conversation here the other day. “If you want me around, you make the effort to push and get me back.”

The Giants did not make that effort, Sandoval said, reiterating that last spring’s aborted talks for a contract extension in San Francisco were pretty much the end of the line.

“I knew early in spring training last year I was going to leave,” Sandoval said. “They didn’t respect my agent. Contract talks, everything. The way Brian Sabean (Giants general manager) talked to my agent.”

From there, Sandoval said, he did his best to soak in everything during the rest of the season, making the most out of what he knew would be his last summer in a Giants uniform.

He kept business off the field, playing in 157 games, batting .279/.324/.415 with 16 homers and 73 RBI (including posting a .308 average and .799 OPS from May 11 through season’s end) and, of course, playing the hero again in October in front of thousands of worshipping Panda masks with an MLB-record 26 postseason hits.

All of this explains, he says, why he rebuffed the Giants’ late charge to keep him in November. By then, he says, it was too late. Even with October echoes still fresh in the air.

“The Giants made a good offer, but I didn’t want to take it,” he said. “I got five years (and $95 million) from Boston. I left money on the table in San Francisco.

“It is not about money. It is about how you treat the player.”

The San Diego Padres made a hard run at Sandoval early in his free agency, but he never seriously considered them, he said. For that, the Padres have only one thing to blame, and it was out of their control: geography.

“I wanted to get out of the NL West,” Sandoval said. “If I had gone to San Diego, it would have been crazy when we played San Francisco.”

Given that the Giants and Padres play 19 times annually, that was going to be too much crazy for the Panda.

The AL East is a world away from the NL West, both geographically and philosophically. Given Sandoval’s lifetime battle with weight, many in the industry pegged Boston as a perfect landing spot because he can play third base for a time in Fenway Park and then move into the designated hitter role when David Ortiz retires.

Not so fast, Sandoval said.

“I want to play third base all five years,” he said. “I don’t like DH. I love to be involved in the game.”

He’s acting like it, too.

“He’s already talked to a couple of starting pitchers about how they like to pitch so he knows how to position himself, whether it’s near the line or away from it,” Clay Buchholz said. “I reached out to Jake Peavy when we signed him. I think a lot of Jake Peavy’s opinion, and he said he compares him with David Ortiz in the playoffs.

“I knew when he said that, we were going to like Pablo.”

In his early days with the Red Sox, Sandoval has been involved in just about everything. Early-morning card games. Impromptu clubhouse dance sessions. Even, ahem, afternoon fishing expeditions. There is a man-made lake in one of the housing complexes nearby, and Sandoval says he, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Napoli and Hanley Ramirez go fishing.

“I love it,” he said. “We talk. We have fun.”

They also throw the fish back. Well, the others do. Sandoval, asked if he handles the worms and baits the hook himself, acknowledged that he doesn’t actually fish, he just likes to go along and watch the others.

“Everybody loves Panda,” said Ramirez, who spent the past two-and-a-half seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers as Panda’s NL West rival. “He’s a great guy, and he’s got a great heart.

“He gives everything he has every day.”

New Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis knew to expect that after having winter conversations with Giants hitting coach Hensley “Bam-Bam” Meulens.

“He told me you might have to get him out of the cage sometimes because he likes to work,” Davis said. “He’s a good guy. He’s going to be something to watch.

“They’re going to miss him.”

In all likelihood, far more than the Panda is going to miss San Francisco.

“Only Bochy,” Sandoval said of Giants manager Bruce Bochy. “I love Boch. He’s like my dad. He’s the only guy that I miss. And Hunter Pence. Just those guys.

“But now, I feel like I’m home.”

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. 

Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Spring training might represent a fresh start for the fans of each of MLB‘s 30 teams. But 2014 is still on the minds of several players on those rosters.

Injuries, most of which were suffered last season, continue to dominate the headlines surrounding a handful of the biggest names in the game.

Some have progressed in their rehabilitations to the point where they’ve gotten back on the field and into exhibition games. These players will be our focus.

But we can’t ignore those who are still working their ways toward that point, and we’ll take a look at where those players stand as well.

How did those who have seen action in the exhibition season’s opening week fare? Let’s take a look.

*Note, we are only focusing on established MLB stars. Highly touted prospects dealing with injuries, like Minnesota’s Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, were not eligible for this list.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks began spring training games Wednesday, the first step toward getting ready for the 2015 campaign. 

Several players have opened eyes thus far in limited time such as Walter Ibarra, Peter O’Brien, Rubby De La Rosa and Archie Bradley to name a few. 

On the other hand, several big-name players who are supposed to contribute greatly during the upcoming season have not performed as predicted.

Will they pick it up before April begins?

Here are three D-Backs players who have been disappointing in spring training thus far.

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Baseball has finally returned. With actual games—albeit ones that don’t count—in the books, it’s time for fantasy baseball players to buckle down for draft day.

While spring training shouldn’t drastically change anybody’s predraft outlook, ignoring the exhibition clashes altogether is also ill-advised. If you’re searching for the right things, March happenings can help in small doses.

The MLB season remains around a month away, but draft season kicks into high gear after a week of spring training action. For those searching for some guidance, here are tips consisting of general advice and focused policies on what’s worth watching in spring.

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About a week has gone by since spring training officially started for the Arizona Diamondbacks. A fresh start is exactly what’s needed in the desert after producing the MLB‘s worst record in 2014.

Offseason acquisitions such as Yasmany Tomas and Jeremy Hellickson should have the fanbase confident that a turnaround isn’t too far away.

New manager Chip Hale and new general manager Dave Stewart also give the D-Backs a new-look beginning in 2015.

Now that spring training is underway, the active roster is starting to take shape.

Here is a look at what the D-Backs’ 25-man roster will look like on Opening Day.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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