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It’s only fitting that the New York Yankees are one of the final two teams, along with Tuesday night’s opponents, the Houston Astros, to experience their first game of the 2014 season. That gives future Hall of Famer and Yankees legend Derek Jeter, who announced in February that he’s retiring at season’s end, a little extra time to take in his last Opening Day and the start of his final year in baseball.

Then again, after all he went through in 2013, Jeter might have prefer that 2014 start as soon as possible.

In the wake of suffering a fractured left ankle in October 2012 during the Yankees’ ALCS loss to the Detroit Tigers, Jeter played just 17 games and managed all of 73 plate appearances in a 2013 filled with fits, starts and frustrating setbacks in the recovery process. In so many ways, Jeter spent much of last year limping, serving as the embodiment of an injury-riddled Yankees club that missed the postseason for only the second time in his 19 seasons.

But will that be the case again in Jeter’s 20th and final campaign?

After almost an entire year off, Jeter has fully recovered. Of course, for both him and the Yankees to be successful, Jeter will need to show he can still swing the bat, if not to the extent he did when he led the majors with 216 hits, then at least enough so that he can make solid contact and get on base while hitting near the top of the Yankees’ revamped and rebuilt lineup.

Jeter showed he still has at least a little something left in his lumber this spring:

He’s also going to need to remain a competent defender at arguably the most important position, which in Jeter’s case means making the plays he gets to so the Yankees can once again rely on his steady, if limited, glove work. That’s far from a given, considering he’s coming off serious ankle surgery and various injuries to his legs that cropped up when he tried to return last year.

Again, though, here’s another example from the exhibition season that shows Jeter moving well:

Admittedly, if you’re looking for answers to how Jeter will fare based on his final spring training, well, his performance this March wasn’t great: He managed just seven hits in 51 at-bats, and only one of those went for extra bases (see video above).

Numbers aside, though, Jeter was more himself than he was at any point in 2013, as Erik Boland of Newsday writes:

Jeter’s spring training results were mixed. He never looked good at the plate, hitting .137 with a .214 OBP in 18 games. But numerous scouts said he moved well—relatively speaking for a 39-year-old coming off the injuries he battled—to his left and right and made all the plays you’d expect.

What’s more, as the Yankees ramp up for their first game of the year, manager Joe Girardi has plenty of confidence in his shortstop, especially compared to what he saw from Jeter a year ago, telling Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today:

It was hard to watch last year because, as much as he said he was ready to go, he really wasn’t. So I’m happy with where he’s at. I don’t make too much of spring training numbers because I’ve been on both sides of that.

As for Jeter himself? “I feel good,” he told Ortiz. “That’s the most important thing. Spring training’s a progression, both physically and being game-ready. I’m where I want to be right now.”

Jeter and the Yankees are going to need that to be more than just lip service. In order to help drive the team on a playoff push and avoid a second straight October-less campaign—which hasn’t happened since 1993-1994—Jeter will have to be of sound mind and body on the field for the first time in quite a while.

If that happens, then, the 39-year-old shortstop can get to work at making memories and knocking down milestones on his way out the door. Like improving his ranking in the career-hits category, which is sure to move up a spot or two. Currently, he’s 10th all-time with 3,316 knocks, and with a typical Jeter-ian season, he actually could encroach upon the top five, passing a few Hall of Famers along the way.

But individual achievements never have been Jeter’s bag. That’s why it will be interesting to see how he handles himself while being the subject of the same kind of farewell—gifts, ceremonies and general adoration—that he witnessed longtime teammates and good buddies Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte receive as they wrapped up their careers last year.

In the case of Rivera, the greatest closer of all time, there was plenty of celebration and fond recollection from teammates, opponents, fans, coaches and others throughout the sport and in every city.

Jeter, whether he likes it or not, is in for similar treatment. Jeter might not welcome all that attention, but without a doubt, he would welcome one element of Rivera’s farewell tour: the elite level of performance the Yankees great was able to maintain all the way to the end.

Even after a torn knee ligament required surgery and cost Rivera most of 2012, the future Hall of Famer returned to the diamond in 2013 and was his usual dominant self. As a 43-year-old, Rivera hurled 64.0 innings and posted a 2.11 ERA and 1.05 WHIP to go with 44 saves.

Certainly, Jeter would take that type of outcome from a personal-performance aspect. That would mean Jeter is once again one of the best shortstops in the sport, never mind one of the best players overall.

And yet, to be sure, Jeter wouldn’t want anything to do with such an incredible individual effort if it also meant his 2014 season concluded like Rivera’s 2013 did—without a trip to the postseason.

To that end, consider this: In baseball history, a player in his age-40 season like Jeter has reached 100 games and played at least 50 percent of them at the shortstop position only seven times, most recently Omar Vizquel in 2007 and Barry Larkin in 2004.

That same feat has only been accomplished by two other players, Honus Wagner and Luke Appling, whose careers came to a close in 1917 and 1950, respectively.

Now, take a gander at that last column on the right, the one that lists the teams’ win-loss records in seasons where a 40-year-old was the primary shortstop. You’ll notice that not a one was .500 or better. That’s what Jeter, who hits the big 4-0 in June, and the Yankees are up against.

And yet, it’s almost impossible to see a scenario in which the Yankees are at least a .500 club—let alone a playoff contender—in 2014 without Jeter playing 100 games at short, simply because they don’t have any worthy alternatives. Defensive wizard Brendan Ryan, currently on the disabled list with a pinched nerve in his back, is only capable of being a late-inning replacement and occasional starter when Jeter needs a day off field duty.

Is it even conceivable that the Yankees could make a playoff push if Jeter isn’t the guy out there on a regular basis? That might as well be a rhetorical question, since Jeter is going to have to prove he’s both healthy and productive enough to become the lone exception to the above should he and the Yankees want a shot at one last October send-off together.

Ultimately, for Jeter and the Yankees, that’s what 2014 is all about. Heck, that’s what the past two decades have been about, ever since a baby-faced 21-year-old showed his uncanny flair for the dramatic by, fittingly enough, smacking his first career home run—which proved to be the game-winner—on Opening Day in 1996.

Eighteen years and five World Series titles later, Jeter and the Yankees have one more chance to turn his final season into one last hurrah. For Jeter, at last, the wait is over, the end is only just beginning. It’s up to him and the Yankees to make it last as long as possible.

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

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

If Bud Selig is, in fact, going to retire at the end of the year as he says he will, then Major League Baseball has some work to do to figure out who’s on deck to become the next commissioner. 

The ninth person to take on the job in MLB‘s long and storied history, Selig has handled the role since 1992 and will turn 80 years old in July. If this is his last year, Selig—who’s been known to change his mind about retirement in the past—will have served for 23 seasons in the same capacity, which is the second-longest tenure ever, behind only Kenesaw Mountain Landis‘ term from 1921 to 1944.

“This is definitely it,” Selig told Jayson Stark of ESPN in January. “I’m more comfortable today than I was when I [announced] it in October, if that’s possible. Jan. 24, 2015, is it. And I’m very comfortable with that. I’m done.”

While Selig has had his share of ups (i.e. record attendance figures) and downs (read: the steroid era), he’ll be remembered for his progressive approach toward growing the sport into a multi-billion dollar industry that has never been more popular than it is today.

As Selig enjoys the 2014 Opening Day—potentially his final one in office—here are some candidates who could step to the plate starting in 2015.

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With spring training finally over (yay!), the 2014 regular season is about to get under way in full (double-yay!!). And with your fantasy baseball draft in the rear-view mirror (triple-yay!!!), it’s time to update the Big Board again.

On the pages that follow is a ranking of—count ’em—the top 150 players for the 2014 fantasy baseball season. With some circumstances and opinions changing since the last iteration, including transactions and injuries, a refreshing of the board is in order.

Before getting to that, though, some housekeeping is needed, as this lengthy list of the top talents comes with a few key qualifications. First, everything is based on 10- or 12-team mixed leagues with standard 5×5 rotisserie scoring for hitters (BA, R, HR, RBI, SB) and pitchers (W, ERA, WHIP, K, SV).

Second, lineup construction accounts for 22 active roster positions consisting of: one each for catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, corner infield, middle infield and utility, along with five outfielders and nine pitchers.

And third, to be eligible at a particular position, players must have either played at least 20 games there in 2013 or be in line to start there in 2014.

With that out of the way, get ready to count down, starting with No. 150 and working all the way to No. 1.

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Over the past several weeks, the 2014 fantasy baseball rankings have been rolling out here at Bleacher Report, culminating in the latest, most up-to-date Big Board, which covers the top 150 players heading into the 2014 season.

All the way back in mid-February, the individual position rankings began being pumped out one by one, starting with the top 20 catchers and wrapping up with the top 45 relief pitchers in early March, with every other spot on the diamond included in between.

Thing is, more than a little has changed since then—namely signings, trades, injuries and performances—so the position rankings need to be adjusted to reflect as much. After all, it’s now late March and the season is already underway, thanks to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks journeying to Australia for the first two of 2,430 scheduled games.

Don’t freak out, though: While there are some alterations here and there, it’s not as if everything is all upside down and inside out all of a sudden. Mr. Mike Trout? He’s still the No. 1 overall player, thank you very much.

While most drafts are done by now, plenty are still to come. Whether you’re an owner who falls into the former camp or the latter one, here’s where you can access all of the adjustments in one place.

Presenting for your viewing, drafting and roster-evaluating pleasure, the current fantasy rankings mapped out position by position.

These rankings consider three factors:

First, everything is based on 10- or 12-team mixed leagues with standard 5×5 rotisserie scoring for hitters (BA, R, HR, RBI, SB) and pitchers (W, ERA, WHIP, K, SV).

Second, lineup construction accounts for 22 active roster positions consisting of: one each for catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, corner infield, middle infield and utility; along with five outfielders and nine pitchers.

And third, to be eligible at a particular position, players either must have played at least 20 games there in 2013 or be in line to start there in 2014. Additionally—and this one gets overlooked often—players are listed in the rankings at the position where their fantasy utility would be most useful.

Statistics come from Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.

If you’re looking for more position-by-position fantasy goodness, you’re cordially invited to read this batch of breakout candidates.

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In fantasy baseball, breakouts happen every year, but not every breakout is created equal. That is to say that they come in different shapes, sizes and scopes.

There are breakouts achieved by rookies who take the sport by storm right out of the gate, like Jose Fernandez and Yasiel Puig did last year. Then there are those that come in the form of a player going from good to great, a la Chris Davis and Carlos Gomez, or ones where something finally clicks for a previously disappointing performer, like Domonic Brown and Daniel Murphy. And yet another kind is when a no-namer becomes a star, which is what happened with Josh Donaldson and Matt Carpenter.

Of course, it’s one thing to use hindsight to highlight a batch of breakout performers from 2013. What fantasy owners drafting now need are players who just might break out—in various shapes, sizes and scopes—this year.

Having these breakout candidates broken down position by position, well, that’s just a bonus.

*Statistics come from Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.

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Before we embark on the endeavor of ranking the top 25 fantasy prospects to target for the 2014 season, let’s get one thing straight up-front: This is based on potential and projected impact for the 2014 season—and the 2014 season alone.

Oh, and before we forget, we better mention this list is all—and only—about 2014.

Got all that? Now then, moving on.

For many prospects who have either only just gotten their feet wet in the majors or who have yet to even dip their big toe in but at least have their swimming trunks on, their fantasy value for the upcoming season is as much about opportunity as it is about talent.

In other words, no matter how talented a youngster is, he also has to be both developmentally ready and in a place on his club’s depth chart to contribute in order to be among the best of the best for 2014. That’s why, on the pages to follow, you’ll find the top 25 fantasy prospects have ratings in both “talent” and “opportunity” (scale out of 10).

As an example, take Byron Buxton. The consensus top prospect in baseball, he would earn a 10 in talent but merely a five in opportunity, since he’s yet to play above A-ball and is unlikely to debut until August or September—and even that’s only if everything goes just right for him. Hence, Buxton isn’t on this list and didn’t come all that close, frankly.

What’s more, to better represent the fantasy factor here, also included are the standard 5×5 categories that a prospect could be best expected to contribute in for this upcoming season. Plus, each player write-up comes complete with his potential 2014 fantasy peak role to help you better grasp how he might fit into your roster if it all clicks just so.

It’s also worth pointing out that to be eligible as a prospect for these purposes, a player must not have exceeded 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched or 30 appearances. (Service time, however, was not considered.) That means you will not see the likes of Christian Yelich, Khris Davis or Corey Dickerson among the hitters or Michael Wacha, Danny Salazar and Sonny Gray among the pitchers. They all played a little too much in 2013 to remain prospects in 2014.

Now that everything is clear about how we compiled this ranking of the top 25 fantasy prospects to target for this season only—again, that’s solely 2014—it’s time to count ’em down.

These rankings are based on 10- or 12-team mixed leagues with standard 5×5 rotisserie scoring for hitters (BA, R, HR, RBI, SB) and pitchers (W, ERA, WHIP, K, SV).

To be eligible as a prospect, a player must not have exceeded 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched or 30 appearances. Service time was not considered. And to be eligible at a particular position, players either must have played at least 20 games there in 2013 or be in line to start there in 2014.

For another prospect-related fantasy piece, here’s a rundown of a batch of youngsters whose fantasy value is better or worse than their real-life value.

Statistics come from Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.

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The Los Angeles Angels and Albert Pujols have to be hoping the third time’s the charm.

During Pujols’ first two seasons with the team, the club’s performance as a whole has been disappointing, while Pujols’ individual production in each year might best be described as an acceptable progression of a decline (2012) followed by injury-marred disaster (2013).

So far this spring, here are his numbers through Monday’s game: .258 batting average, .351 on-base percentage and .323 slugging percentage.

That’s right, the man with eight years and more than $200 million left on his contract who needs all of eight more homers to reach 500 for his career is currently sporting an S-L-G lower than his O-B-P.

While it’s perfectly justifiable to be shouting, “But it’s only spring training!” at your computer screen right now, it’s just as justifiable to remind you that Pujols and the Angels both need 2014 to start off a lot better than either of his first two years in Los Angeles did.

To that point, entering May 2012, the Halos were just 8-15 while Pujols’ OPS was a mere .570—the lowest ever in his career and it came in his first month with his new team!—and after April 2013, those numbers were 9-17 and .762, respectively.

As for March 2014, Pujols told Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com, “Compared to last year when I came here, by the second week of spring training, it was my plantar. I was really frustrated. So I’m really excited and happy how I’m playing first base and how I’m moving.”

Indeed, it’s good to see Pujols, who was one of the better defenders at first base for several years before injuries hampered his lower half, getting back into a groove in the field. This month, he’s already made a handful of nice plays with the glove, while also showing improved movement, both side to side like this:

And this:

As well as coming in on the ball quickly, like so:

With the stick, it’s been a bit of a different story to this point, as mentioned above.

With exactly two weeks left until the Angels opener on March 31 against the Seattle Mariners, Pujols has managed eight hits in 31 at-bats for a respectable enough average (.258), and he’s walked as many times as he’s whiffed (four apiece), which suggests he’s seeing the ball well enough. Still, with only two of those knocks going for extra bases—both doubles—it’s fair to wonder: Where’s the power?

Chances are, it’ll be there during the games that count, especially if Pujols really is healthy and feeling better in his lower half. Remember, this is a guy who had knee surgery in the winter leading up to last season and then dealt with chronic plantar fasciitis pretty much all year—until he flat-out tore the connective tissue in the arch of his left foot early in the second half.

That ended Pujols’ season after just 99 games, only 34 of which came at first base, simply because he was hurting too much to play the field on a regular basis. In all likelihood, at least some of Pujols’ struggles in his career-worst campaign can be attributed to both of those ailments.

While the hits, particularly those of the extra-base variety, have been few and far between during the first portion of spring training, evidence does exist that vintage Pujols is in fact still around, getting his timing back and could be coming out to play more than he did last year:

As Pujols told Gonzalez:

Remember, I missed 300 at-bats last year. I’ve never gone this long without seeing live pitching. This is my first time in my 13-, 14-year career. But I feel better. It seems like my first week I was a little bit uncomfortable, but I started seeing the ball better, getting better at-bats, seeing pitches.

Of course, it wasn’t a good thing Pujols missed the final two months of 2013, but perhaps it wasn’t exactly a bad thing, either. When he fully tore his plantar fascia while hitting a two-run single last July, Pujols essentially gave himself the surgery he had been needing for quite some time—and also gave himself a chance to rest up and recover for an extra eight weeks.

While Pujols, now 34 and amid the second half of his Hall of Fame career, is clearly regressing, ultimately, his health, which failed him miserably last year and led to his worst-ever season, made the pace of that decline look a lot more accelerated than it might actually be.

Will Pujols bounce back to the superstar he was when he was the best hitter on the planet only a few years ago? No, but a return to health could help him approach his 2012 level of production, when he hit .285/.343/.516 with 30 homers and 105 RBI.

On this third time around for Pujols and the Angels, the hope has to be that a healthy left foot will be the charm to help him and the team get off on the right foot.

Statistics come from Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With spring training about halfway over (yay!) and your fantasy baseball draft getting ever closer if you haven’t had it yet (double-yay!), it’s time to update the Big Board again.

On the pages that follow is a ranking of—count ’em—the top 150 players for the 2014 fantasy baseball season. With some circumstances and opinions changing since the last iteration, including transactions and injuries, a refreshing of the board is in order.

Before getting to that, though, some housekeeping is needed, as this lengthy list of the top talents comes with a few key qualifications. First, everything is based on 10- or 12-team mixed leagues with standard 5×5 rotisserie scoring for hitters (BA, R, HR, RBI, SB) and pitchers (W, ERA, WHIP, K, SV).

Second, lineup construction accounts for 22 active roster positions consisting of: one each for catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, corner infield, middle infield and utility; along with five outfielders and nine pitchers.

And third, to be eligible at a particular position, players must have either played at least 20 games there in 2013 or be in line to start there in 2014.

With that out of the way, get ready to count down, starting with No. 150 and working all the way to No. 1.

For more fantasy baseball analysis, here’s a look at 25 new sleepers and a batch of players to avoid drafting based on their cost of acquisition, as well as a rundown of all the individual position rankings, which can be found here.

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Fantasy baseball is a made-up game that takes into account the real-life performances of players on the field. Just because fantasy is based on reality, though, doesn’t mean the two always line up just so—especially when it comes to prospects.

After all, value on a baseball diamond can be a whole lot different than value on a fantasy roster, and owners in keeper and dynasty leagues deserve to know the difference.

In recent weeks, five separate reputable industry sources have released their top 100 prospects: Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, Bleacher Report, ESPN.com (subscription required) and MLB.com.

As part of a special project to point out certain prospects who are better or worse in fantasy compared to reality, we tracked those top 100s—well, really four top 100s and one top 101, to be exact—and then dissected them to determine which prospects appeared in all five of the rankings.

It turns out, there are 69 consensus top-100 prospects who made the cut in each.

Not every prospect from that batch neatly fits into either category—better in fantasy or better in reality—but we’ve extracted the top young talents who do.

Here’s a look at 18 prospects, along with their average, highest and lowest ranking from the five top 100s, as well as an ETA and a verdict on whether each profiles better in fantasy or reality.

Statistics come from Baseball Reference.

Fantasy value is based on standard 5×5 scoring for hitters (BA, R, HR, RBI, SB) and pitchers (W, ERA, WHIP, K, SV).

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Imagine this scenario: You’re in the final few rounds of your fantasy baseball draft trying to target a few end-gamers to fill out your roster and/or bench who just might turn into gems, except your already exhausted noggin just ain’t working like it was through the first portion of your picking.

That’s why you should bookmark this list now and save it for later, when you’ll need it most.

Last time, we ran through the top 25 sleepers to know just as spring training camps were starting up. Over the past month or so, many of those names have become too popular to be considered true sleepers anymore, so in this installment, we bring another batch of players you should be looking at in the late rounds.

The goal? To dig a little deeper as a way to help owners in mixed leagues with at least 12 teams, as well as those who play in American League- or National League-only formats.

In order to be eligible this time around, players must fall outside the top 200—that’s beyond Round 16 in 12-team leagues—based on average draft positions (ADP) from Mock Draft Central. Also, there will be no repeats from the initial list, because that kind of defeats the purpose.

Here, then, are 25 more fantasy sleepers, listed in order of ADP, to consider snapping up late in your drafts. Your brain can thank us later.

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