In other news, Detroit's public statement and frustration with Scherzer was really kinda stupid. There is nothing they could possibly gain from basically painting one of their star pitchers as greedy. At best its a non-issue that is forgotten by all sides. At worst, maybe they pissed off Scherzer and/or Boras and have made it a little harder to retain him.

Jon Rauch is out of the running. The last bullpen slot will be filled by either Bueno or a waiver wire pickup.

Maybe. Factors:

1) Do Butler and Gordon regress to their means? That would mean Butler is .300/.375/.450 with 15-20 HR and 40-50 2B, Gordon is .290/.360/.450 with 15-20 HR, 40-50 2B.

2) Does Hosmer do it for a whole season? If he does, you're talking about .300/25/100/100/15, .300/.350/.500 type production.

3) Is Moustakas really improved? Not saying he'll do what he is in ST, but if he can give them a full season at his first half 2012 level, that would work out to .275/28/80, .275/.320/.500. That's just enormous.

4) Is Ventura the real deal? To the point of 200 IP, 3.50 ERA, 1.20 WHIP 200 Ks?

5) Do the Royals bullpen and defense remain in the same general ballpark (not as good, but close and still elite)?

For the Tigers:

1) Do Sanchez and Scherzer perform at the same level or take small steps back?

2) How does the new-look offense perform? Jackson in the 5, Kinsler at the top?

3) Is their bullpen BETTER with Joe Nathan but without Smyly, Benoit and Rondon?

4) Speaking of Smyly, what does he give them in the rotation? Unlikely it is as much as Fister, but can he give them 80 percent? 90 percent?

5) Finally, is the D improved as much as some think? Without Iglesias linchpinning it, they're still below average at SS, 1B, C and 3B. Just OK in LF, pretty good in CF, pretty good in RF. Very good at 2B. Seems like the D will still be a step below average, especially on the infield.

Royals defense honestly should improve, Aoki and Infante are upgrades to what was in those spots.

It's possible. It's just that what KC got at SS, C, LF, and CF (where great performances drove a big part of the run-prevention) is hard to count on at QUITE that level.

Lough also graded out exceptionally well as a defender in RF, though that was only 1/2 season.

Well none of those guys are old and declining so that helps, and if Cain could manage to stay healthy all season even CF production could upgrade.

Please God!!! And let's hope they can stretch baseball all the way through football season next year too!

Alex Colome of the Rays has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for PED's.

Never heard of him.

He was going to be a rookie for them and possibly a promising young arm for their rotation.

I saw a tweet that said 4 of the Rays top 10 prospects were suspended for drug use.

Looks like Infante is staying in Surprise for our opening series. Who is going to take his place at 2B and doesn't this mean we HAVE to carry Ciriaco or someone on the bench to back up Infante and Escy?!

Dude is already injured. Great.

You may have confused the opening series with him not going up to Milwaukee. We're not playing real games in Milwaukee, those are still exhibition games.

The plan right now is still for Infante to be with the team and starting in Detroit.

Whew