Not only are we still in the year 2016, but we also haven’t even gotten past the holidays yet. Spring training is but a glimmer on the Major League Baseball horizon.

And yet, I can already make out some of the position battles people will be talking about.

While there’s still plenty of hot stove wheeling and dealing for the league to take care of, enough has gone down to highlight positions that are settled and positions that are not. Let’s focus our attention on the latter and preview 10 position battles that figure to be the most heated come spring training.

First, some ground rules. Position battles on contending teams carry more weight, so the list ahead consists exclusively of such battles. The rankings are unscientific but generally relate to the intrigue of the players and positions involved and the team overseeing it all.

Now then, let’s take it away…

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