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This offseason, the Washington Nationals turned a nice roster into a World Series favorite with a handful of key acquisitions, but that’s not such good news for some borderline big leaguers, who will now have to fight tooth and nail in spring training just to avoid cuts or demotions. 

From one through 24, Washington’s Opening Day 25-man roster looks set in stone, save for a setback in Jayson Werth’s recovery from shoulder surgery that would open up another spot. 

Because of this lack of parity, the best chance anyone on this list has of earning an Opening Day spot is about 50/50. Those percentages go to Tyler Moore and Mike Carp as they duke it out for that last seat on the bench. 

But the severity of the consequences of not earning a coveted big-league roster spot also vary among these four Nationals. 

If Moore doesn’t make the major league squad, he could end up on a different team. If Dan Uggla fails to crack the roster, he could end up looking for a different profession.

The beginning of spring training is somewhat of a social event for most players—relaxed, informal—but for these four players, camp will be a grind from start to finish while they look to stay relevant in the eyes of their coaches.

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Turn back the calendar only two years, and Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun was one of the premier hitters in all of baseball—if not the best.

From 2007 to 2012, Braun’s first six MLB seasons, he averaged more than 33 home runs and 107 RBI. That kind of production is off the charts, and Braun was more than just a power hitter. He hit .313 over that span, didn’t strike out a ton and reached 30 steals in two of those seasons.

However, Braun’s reputation and stats plummeted when he vehemently denied using PEDs—only to admit to using them in August 2013. His confession earned Braun a suspension that forced him to miss the remainder of the 2013 season.

Then he ran into more trouble—this time physically. Braun was ailed by a nerve injury in his thumb in 2014, and his production slowly but surely worsened as the season wore on. Not only did the injury get progressively worse, but it also robbed the slugging 31-year-old outfielder of most of his power.

ESPN.com’s Buster Olney published a column last July outlining just how much Braun’s power decreased in 2014. The discoveries were mind-boggling.

Braun didn’t pull the ball much last year, and a career-high 46.1 percent of his hits were to the opposite field. Also, Braun’s batted balls traveled an average of 17 feet shorter than they did in 2013.

It is unknown whether the thumb is entirely to blame for these numbers, but it surely hampered him in some way.

So what are some realistic expectations for the former Miami Hurricanes third baseman in the upcoming season?

Most importantly, it’s going to come down to whether he is completely healthy. Braun had a cryotherapy procedure done on his thumb over the offseason, which applied extreme cold in an attempt to freeze out the lingering nerve issues.

According to news coming out of the Brewers camp, per Fox Sports Wisconsin’s John Pesetski, Braun is feeling great:

So far it (the thumb) feels great. Everything so far has gone as well as I possibly could’ve hoped. I don’t think I’ll be limited or anything. I’ll have to be conscious about how many extra swings I take. But aside from that, I’m able to do everything.

That is very encouraging news, and Braun did not shy away from portraying plenty of optimism.

“I feel good. I’ve always felt that as long as I’m healthy, success is inevitable,” Braun told Fox Sports. “The better I play, the more I am going to help the team. I expect to go out there and be one of the best players in the league.”

If he truly feels that he can return to being among the best pure hitters in baseball, it is definitely a possibility.

FanGraphs‘ Steamer projects Braun to hit .276 with 24 home runs and 78 RBI. While those numbers would be a slight improvement over 2014, they don’t do him justice.

Braun is one of the best players in Major League Baseball when healthy, and he has what it takes to return to that prestigious group in 2015. If his thumb can stay healthy for the duration of the season, he will be an All-Star-caliber outfielder.

I am going to go out on a limb and predict that Braun will hit at least .285 with 30 home runs and 100 RBI.

He is still a premium talent, and his numbers will reflect his tremendous ability in 2015.

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

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Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale has consistently been one of Major League Baseball’s best hurlers since 2012, but the unorthodox lefty is once again dealing with injury concerns.

The White Sox announced the 25-year-old star suffered a fractured right foot and is expected to miss three weeks:

The team also provided comments from general manager Rick Hahn:

Sale enters the 2015 season having been named to three consecutive All-Star Games. He also finished sixth or better in the American League Cy Young voting every year from 2012 through 2014.

Although he only won 12 games last season due to a lack of run support, Sale was lights out. He posted career bests as a starter with a 2.17 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP and 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings. The only downside of his campaign was that he was a bit banged up.

Sale has largely been healthy over the course of his career, but he was limited to 26 starts last season with a flexor muscle strain in his throwing arm.

While Sale was able to rebound and have a spectacular year, there are always concerns regarding his health due to the violence and velocity with which he releases the baseball.

Even as suggestions have been made to potentially tweak Sale’s throwing motion, though, White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper has been adamantly against doing so, per Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago.

“Anyone who would try to change what he is doing would be foolish,” Cooper said. “If it ain’t broke, you don’t try to fix it here. Chris has put up the numbers. He is on the road to greatness. He has a chance to become a great pitcher.”

This setback is certainly unfortunate, especially since Sale enters the 2015 season with absolutely massive expectations, though it doesn’t seem this is an injury that will have him sidelined for the long term.

The White Sox were active during the offseason, which has Sale excited about the possibility of making some noise, according to the team’s official Twitter account:

Sale previously indicated he certainly wanted to contend for a playoff spot, but his eyes were on an even greater prize in the form of the World Series, per the Chicago Sun-Times on Twitter:

There is little doubt that Sale’s dominance was a big reason why so many observers were bullish about Chicago’s chances in the AL Central leading up to the 2015 season.

Sale is one of the best pitchers the sport has to offer, and everyone with a vested interest in the White Sox eagerly anticipates his return.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter

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Most spring training storylines you hear of will be about baseball. The whole idea is to mark the return of baseball, after all, so that makes sense.

But then there are the other storylines. The ones that are looming over everything and taking the attention away from what’s happening on the field.

You know, the distractions.

What we’re going to do is count down the top 10 distractions that have emerged in the 2015 spring season. Not all of them have villains at the center, but for players, coaches, executives, fans or all of the above, they’re all distracting from actual baseball matters in one way or another.

Step into the box whenever you’re ready.

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Winter is a long, soggy slog for everyone, but it’s especially brutal for Major League Baseball fans.

Not only do we endure the ice and chill, but we also do it without a flicker of MLB action. And the suffering really sets in once the hot stove goes cold.

So huzzah for spring training and the return of actual honest-to-goodness baseball. Gloves, bats and fresh-cut grass are back—the whole nine.

Here’s the thing, though: It’s only spring. The games, which kick off on March 1, are mostly meaningless—or at least the outcomes are.

Even individual performances can be deceiving, with scalding starts or extended slumps vanishing like a desert mirage when the regular season begins.

The point isn’t to throw a wet blanket on your budding baseball-related joy. But overreactions abound this time of year, and the discerning fan would do well to avoid them.

What sorts of overreactions? It’s funny you should ask.

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David Price, Jordan Zimmermann and Johnny Cueto are among the nastiest starters in baseball. The trio is also slated to headline the stacked 2016 MLB free-agent class.

Aces dominate next’s years crop of big-money free agents, but there’s also a few big bats to be found like Price’s current teammate with the Detroit Tigers Yoenis Cespedes.

With major leaguers slowly working their way back into shape on diamonds across Arizona and Florida, now is the perfect time to jump ahead and forecast how next winter’s free-agent market could shake out.

What follows is a look at the early top fits for the most prominent names set to hit the free-agent front. In determining where these players could land next, factors such as age, career track records and the needs of the respective teams were all taken into consideration.

The 10 stars who crack this list are all on the verge of cashing in. In the top 10, they’re ranked in order of the predicted values of the paydays they’re expected to rake in. Price is the most famous name in the class, but the lefty doesn’t claim the No. 1 spot.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates said it was “sickening” to see their famous “P” logo on a hat worn by Islamic State militant Mohammed Emwazi.

“The classic gold P stands for Pittsburgh and is worn by our players, coaches and fans with a great sense of pride,” the team’s statement read (h/t CBS Pittsburgh). “It is absolutely sickening to everyone within the Pirates organization, and to our great fans, to see this murderer wearing a Pirates cap in this old photo.”

This comes after Sky News unearthed a photo of Emwazi, better known worldwide as Jihadi John, from his days at the University of Westminster. In the picture, Emwazi is wearing a black Pirates hat.

The CBS Evening News shared the photo on social media:

Emwazi attended the University of Westminster’s Cavendish branch in London from 2006 to 2009 and graduated with a degree in computer science. Roughly four years later, he traveled to Syria before joining the Islamic State.

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Spring training has begun in baseball, and the New York Mets are gearing up for what will hopefully be a successful 2015 season.

The Mets have a lot of big names on the team, such as David Wright, Curtis Granderson, Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom, among others. But there are some under-the-radar players and prospects that should and hopefully will get more attention in the next month.

Here are three under-the-radar Mets who are ready to have a big spring.

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Melvin Upton’s tenure with the Atlanta Braves has been marred by injuries and disappointing play on the field. He is hoping for a fresh start in 2015, but the center fielder formerly known as B.J. Upton is fighting a foot ailment. He expects to be out a week.

Continue for updates. 

Upton Expects to be Out “a Week at the Most”

Saturday, Feb. 28

MLB.com’s Mark Bowman provided comments from Upton, who spoke about his status:

I went into it thinking [I would be out] a week at the most or a couple days and it would be fine,” said Upton, who earlier this week replaced his nickname (B.J.) with his birth name (Melvin). “The doctor saw some things [he] didn’t like.”

[…]

“It’s frustrating, but at the same time, I’m going to try to take the positive out of it,” Upton said. “At least it’s now and not in August, when we’re in the middle of a pennant race. It’s something we can get a hold of now, knock it out and hope it’s not anything we have to deal with again.

Upton Sustains Foot Injury

Friday, Feb. 27

According to the Braves’ official Twitter, Upton’s left foot will be wrapped up for anywhere from six to eight weeks due to inflammation:

Using that time frame, Upton won’t even be able to start playing any games until the second week of April at the earliest. 

Even though Upton has done nothing in two years with the Braves, hitting .198/.279/.314 in 267 games, per Baseball-Reference, this is a devastating blow for the team. The Braves have undertaken a rebuilding effort by trading away Justin Upton and Jason Heyward, so Melvin Upton had to step up in their absence. 

Instead, the Braves will be forced to deal with the absence of Upton to start the season. The good news is that Atlanta has built up a surplus of outfielders with Nick Markakis, Eric Young Jr. and Jonny Gomes to give manager Fredi Gonzalez options to play with until Upton returns. 

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Remember the last time the New York Mets were contenders? It was 2008, and just about everything was clicking. Everything, that is, except the bullpen.

The Mets blew a total of 29 saves that season. Their bullpen finished with a 4.27 ERA. They lost six of their final nine games, getting knocked out of the playoff race by the Florida Marlins on the last day of the season for a second straight year. 

If every game had ended after eight innings, then-Philadelphia Inquirer writer Andy Martino pointed out, the Mets would have won the National League East by 12 games.

But that was then. If the Mets again find themselves in a playoff race in September 2015, their bullpen could very well provide the boost they need, instead of ripping their hopes apart at the seams. 

Mets fans will be quick to note that, in ’08, closer Billy Wagner was injured for the final two months of the season. But that’s exactly the point: Their ‘pen was so mediocre, so fragile to begin with, that it couldn’t possibly withstand that type of loss.

Now, the Mets enter spring training with not only an adequate bullpen, but one that has the potential to be great—and deep.  

“We’ve got a back end of our bullpen that has four guys that could be closers on any team,” manager Terry Collins said at the Winter Meetings, per Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. The four Collins was presumably referring to: Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, Vic Black and Bobby Parnell.

Over the past several seasons, general manager Sandy Alderson has typically brought in veteran, past-their-prime relievers in an attempt to fill gaping bullpen holes. Names like Jose Valverde, Kyle Farnsworth, Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch jump to mind. 

This offseason, Alderson didn’t feel the need. The Mets’ young arms have come into their own, finishing 2014 with a 3.14 bullpen ERA that ranked eighth in Major League Baseball. 

Mejia took over the closer’s role when Parnell needed Tommy John surgery, and he recorded 28 saves with a 3.65 ERA in 63 appearances. His curveball and slider were nasty, and he transitioned nicely from a starter to a reliever, with swagger:

Jenrry Mejia. So pumped. pic.twitter.com/iy8HR5yrZu

— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) July 26, 2014

With Parnell due to return in May, it remains to be seen whether Mejia will keep the closing duties when he comes back or cede them to the more experienced righty. Relative to past years, this is a wonderful problem for the Mets to have. 

Familia, who’s likely to handle the eighth inning, had a 2.21 ERA in 77 1/3 innings last year and finished seventh in NL Rookie of the Year Voting. He averages over 96 mph on his fastball, according to FanGraphs.

Black was demoted in spring training in 2014 before being called up and posting a 2.60 ERA, fanning just under a batter per inning.

Mejia, Familia, Black and Parnell: four flame-throwing righties, three of whom are 25 or 26 years old and one of whom (Parnell) is 30. All four should be approaching or still in their prime.

Add to the equation right-hander Carlos Torres, who was reliable though overworked in 2014; lefty Josh Edgin, who’s established himself as a left-handed specialist but believes he can be more; Dillon Gee, the odd man out of the rotation who will likely begin the year in the ‘pen; and another southpaw, perhaps Sean Gilmartin from the Rule 5 draft, and the Mets could find themselves with a shutdown bullpen to piggyback a rotation full of rising stars.

But there’s a flip side.  

Bullpens are a fickle thing, and the four aforementioned flame-throwers haven’t exactly been putting up numbers in the big leagues over a sustained period. Last season was Mejia’s first with more than 39 innings pitched and marked his first experience closing. Familia was a rookie after cups of coffee in 2012 and 2013. Black, too, achieved rookie status in 2014. And Parnell has pitched just one inning in the last year and a half. 

Lukas Vlahos of Amazin‘ Avenue wrote last summer that the peripheral stats suggest Familia, Edgin and Black could all be due for some regression. Plus, Mejia and Familia each underwent offseason sports hernia surgery, while Black was shut down early last season with shoulder/neck issues. All three say they’re back at 100 percent, per Kristie Ackert of the Daily News. 

Surely, there are questions regarding the Mets’ lineup: Can David Wright bounce back from a down year? Is Lucas Duda the real deal? What will Curtis Granderson provide? But it’s fairly safe to assume the offense will be somewhere between subpar and average. The rotation, meanwhile, will fall somewhere between good and unstoppable, and the defense will be strong in the outfield and weak in the infield. 

The bullpen? It could fall just about anywhere on that spectrum.  

The 2015 season is make-or-break for Collins, Alderson and the Mets, and the bullpen—specifically, whether Mejia, Familia, Black and Edgin continue to improve—could ultimately be the deciding factor in whether the Amazin‘s are destined for a seventh straight losing campaign, or a shot at the postseason. 

“I think this is the year,” Familia told Matt Ehalt of The Bergen Record. “Like Mejia said, I think we have to believe. We have a pretty good rotation, got good guys that can hit the ball, and the bullpen is strong. I think we can be there.”

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