Much has been made of the success White Sox pitchers have experienced under the tutelage of pitching coach Don Cooper. Since Cooper’s first full season on the job, the rotation has consistently been a strength, ranking fifth in WAR since 1993. Last season, however, the team took a step backwards. For the first time since 2004, the rotation finished outside of the top-10 according to WAR. The team obviously believes in their current group, and will return the same cast of characters in the rotation this season.

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Adrian Gonzalez was a disappointment last season. While his overall slash line of .299/.344/.463 isn’t terrible for most players, it represented a pretty big fall from the elite production he’s provided in the past. The culprit of his struggles wasn’t an injury, and, at age-31, Gonzalez is still young enough to stave off a major performance decline. Those factors have made Gonzalez one of the most difficult players to project this season. Unless he can return to form, Gonzalez’s days as an elite offensive first baseman may have already come to an end.

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The St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation is in great shape in spite of losing their second best starter to free-agency. Kyle Lohse may be gone, but the team boasts a bevy of qualified candidates for the rotation. While everything looks strong on paper, at least three of their pitchers are dealing with significant questions as the season approaches. Adam Wainwright is entering the last year of his contract, Jaime Garcia is coming off a shoulder injury and Shelby Miller has already been shut down with shoulder soreness. Two of those situations will drastically change the value of multiple players during the season.

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This offseason proved to be rough on the Milwaukee Brewers. Their star player has been linked to performance enhancing drugs, and their right-fielder will miss the beginning of the season with a knee injury, and will now be playing first base. All of this seems strangely familiar, no? But both issues proved to be overblown last year. Ryan Braun’s test was overturned, leading to another strong performance. Corey Hart returned from his knee injury and didn’t miss a beat, basically posting his career-averages with slightly more power. If they hope to contend, the Brewers need a repeat performance this season.

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The Rangers gambled on Joe Nathan last season and won big. Nathan recovered from his worst season as a reliever, improving nearly all of his metrics, and finishing the year with a 2.78 FIP and 37 saves. The team took a similar approach this offseason, picking up former closer Joakim Soria and Toronto Blue Jays reliever Jason Frasor. Both players have been effective late-inning options during their career, but concerns about their usefulness kept their price down. Soria didn’t pitch at all last season after recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, while Frasor will have to contend with age-related decline as he enters his age-35 season. Those veterans will join a young, yet, otherwise promising bullpen in Texas.

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The Texas Rangers return virtually the same infield despite having the best shortstop overall prospect in baseball. For all the talk that’s bound to come focusing on the moves the team didn’t make during the offseason, the team did make some significant additions. A.J. Pierzynski takes over for Mike Napoli at catcher, in a move that made perfect sense for both sides, and Lance Berkman decided to stave off retirement to be the team’s DH. Almost every player in the club’s infield will have fantasy relevance this season, aside from Mitch Moreland. But the biggest question for fantasy owners will revolve around the team’s plan for Jurickson Profar.

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The Texas Rangers’ hopes for contention in the strong AL West depends on whether their starting pitching can take a step forward. The club enters the year with more uncertainty at the position than they’ve experienced in recent seasons. In the past, the team had enough depth at the position to survive a let-down or injury. With Colby Lewis and Neftali Feliz out until at least mid-season, the club could be in trouble if any of their top-five options falter.

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It’s pretty rare for a player who was still a rookie at age-29 to ever stumble into a full-time role. But that’s precisely what Justin Ruggiano is looking to do this spring. A minor leaguer since 2004, Ruggiano didn’t lose his major-league rookie status until 2011, when he was 29-years-old. Not surprisingly, the list of 29-year-old rookies that go on to have successful careers is pretty short, and the Miami Marlins seemed to agree at first, as Ruggiano began 2012 in the minors. But a combination of his performance, and the club’s need for hitting, propelled Ruggiano back into the majors at age-30. This time, he didn’t disappoint. After 320 plate appearances with a .313/.374/.535 slash line, and a .390 wOBA, Ruggiano has emerged as a sleeper. But given the track record of players with his path to the majors, he’s already fighting against the odds.

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In the coming weeks, we’ll be covering each team’s potential depth charts in an effort to shine a spotlight on the interesting playing time battles that will be waged this spring. Obviously none of these depth charts are set in stone — rather they should function to focus your attention in the right places to find cheap fantasy value.

The Arizona Diamondbacks should boast fantasy starters at four of their five infield positions. That may not allow much room for sleepers, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any interesting story lines surrounding the team. Newly acquired third baseman Martin Prado will be utilized primarily at one position for the first time in his career, and Aaron Hill and Paul Goldschmidt will have to prove that their performances last season were not a fluke. Things might seem clear upon first glance, but significant questions prevent nearly the entire team’s infield from being a sure fantasy pick.

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In the coming weeks, we’ll be covering each team’s potential depth charts in an effort to shine a spotlight on the interesting playing time battles that will be waged this spring. Obviously none of these depth charts are set in stone — rather they should function to focus your attention in the right places to find cheap fantasy value.

There was a massive overhaul in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ outfield this offseason. Two-thirds of last year’s starting three were shipped to other teams. Jason Kubel, who was also rumored to be on the block, was the lone starter to survive. The team also complicated matters by adding Cody Ross, fresh off a resurgent season with the Boston Red Sox. With veteran Geraldo Parra still in the fold for playing time, and prospect Adam Eaton ready for regular playing time, Arizona’s outfield is a little too crowded. How they decide to sort things out could have a strong impact on each player’s fantasy value.

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