Mar 21, 2013
Spring has officially arrived with the 2013 Major League Baseball (MLB) season set to start in a couple weeks. The spring has been filled with the action of the World Baseball Classic and injuries. The excitement level is beginning to rise for all baseball fans across the country.
The New York Yankees have had a rough 2013 spring with injuries to Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson along with the slow progression of Derek Jeter recovering from off-season ankle surgery. The opening day roster from 2012 to 2013 consists of two of the same starters. Those two starters are Robinson Cano and Brett Gardner. Joe Giradi will look to Ichiro Suzuki and Kevin Youkilis to fill the roles left by Nick Swisher and the injured Alex Rodriguez.
Now while the Yankees are trying to get a healthy team on the field the rest of the American League East are strong led by the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays acquired Josh Johnson, Mark Buerhle and Jose Reyes in the off-season. These moves were made to push the Jays over the hump and fight for the AL East title. While the Red Sox, Rays and Orioles all look to be contenders as well in 2013.
As far as the National League look for the NL East to be as fun to watch as the American League East. The Washington Nationals look to continue what they started in 2012 while the Atlanta Braves added a pair of outfielders to help boost the middle of the lineup. Those outfielders are the Upton brothers who both give you good defense and good bats. While the Phillies look to get healthy and contend in 2013.
The other big news this off-season is the inability of Kyle Lohse, who is coming off a 16-3 season with a 2.83 earned run average, to land a contract. He sits on the free agent market while teams choose not to give up a first round pick in the Major League draft!
