Trevor Cahill has come a long way in four seasons. After a questionable performance during his rookie year, Cahill has steadily improved over his career. His WAR reflects this too, as it’s risen from 0.6 to 3.4 over the last four seasons. A decent chunk of that improvement can be tied to Cahill’s strikeout rate, which has also steadily risen over his career. While Cahill has been around for what seems like a long time, he’s still young, not turning 25 until March. Because of that, it’s still plausible to think there’s a chance for Cahill to get even better.

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Jurickson Profar has a strong chance at being the consensus best prospect in baseball entering the season. Both MLB.com and ESPN’s Keith Law agree, ranking him in the top slot. And while Baseball America hasn’t divulged their list yet, Profar graces the cover of this year’s Prospect Handbook. For FG+ this season, which you should buy if you haven’t already, I did an article looking at whether it’s worth it to draft prospects in a re-draft league. Since I found playing time to be a major factor in whether a prospect can be successful during their rookie year, I did not look at whether the elite prospects were more likely to have a successful fantasy season. Profar may enter the year as baseball’s best prospect, but does that mean anything for his fantasy value?

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Jesus Montero will be the Mariners starting catcher when pitchers and catcher report in less than one week. That’s actually somewhat surprising, as Montero’s only real weak spot as a prospect was his defense. Due to those concerns, the Mariners primarily used Montero as their designated hitter last season. They didn’t give up on him as a catcher, allowing him to play 53 games behind the plate. Though the M’s allowed Montero to work through his struggles at the major-league level, his performance was underwhelming. In 553 plate appearances, Montero hit just .260/.298/.386. Montero may not have lived up to his prospect billing last season, but he was just 22-years-old. Entering his age-23 season, there’s still plenty of hope for Montero. And by moving him the catcher full-time, the Mariners might be giving him a much better shot at an offensive break out.

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Michael Bourn is the best free-agent left on the market. The main reason Bourn is still out there has to do with the market. After the other big-name outfielders signed, there were no teams left on the market who could offer Bourn a mega-deal. The only team he’s been linked to recently is the Mets, who are only interested in adding him if MLB decides to exempt the Mets from giving up the 11 pick. But even if the Mets signed Bourn, they would want him to lower his demands. The team doesn’t want to invest a five-year deal in a player so dependent on his legs, figuring, once the speed goes, Bourn will no longer be useful. The general notion suggests that players like Bourn fall off a cliff as their speed declines. But is Bourn the exception to that line of thinking?

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No one could blame you if you didn’t believe in Salvador Perez last season. While he mashed to a tune of .331/.361/.473 as a 21-year-old rookie, there were reasons for skepticism. Perez had only received 158 plate appearances, had a poor walk rate and he posted a nearly unsustainable .362 BABIP. On top of that, Perez suffered a knee injury last March, which would sideline him for three to four months. By the time he returned, it was pretty easy to temper your expectations. But just as things looked their worst for Perez, he blossomed. Perez returned from the injury in late-June, and hit .301/.328/.471 in 305 plate appearances. Entering his age-23 season, Perez’s future looks incredibly bright.

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The New York Mets have finally signed a major league free-agent this winter. Shaun Marcum will head to New York on a one-year deal, pending a physical. The 31-year-old pitcher has been effective throughout his career, with a 3.76 career ERA. Even though he missed a significant amount of last season with an injury, it was surprising to see a pitcher of his caliber receive little interest on the market. At the same time, Marcum wasn’t at his best last season, tossing just 124 innings with a 105 FIP-, his highest since 2008. If Marcum can stay healthy, he could be in for a resurgent season.

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If you’ve been following the site over the past few weeks, you’ll know that the RotoGraphs team got together and held a “ridiculously early mock draft.” Our fearless leader, Eno Sarris, published the results of the full 23 round draft each week (1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-23). This was the first time I had ever done a draft without the benefit of a fantasy rankings guide or a custom list of rankings, so it was a brand new experience for me. I’ve compiled some of my thoughts below, in hopes that they might create discussion among the commenters, or just bring about some debates.

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Chris Tillman is going to be a very popular pick at the end of most drafts this season. Every year, there are a couple of guys that get touted all offseason, causing other owners to make a fuss when a team finally drafts them. In my experiences so far, Tillman is one of those guys. In an experts draft I participated in, Tillman’s selection caused the most “nice pick” messages from other owners. And in the RotoGraphs early mock, at least two other league members told me they liked Tillman where I took him. The love that Tillman has received already is going to make him a sleeper that virtually every owner knows about going into your draft. The fact that he had a 2.93 ERA is going to attract even the most basic fantasy owners. While he might not turn into a superstar this season, Tillman deserves the sleeper hype.

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Chase Headley may have churned out the most surprising performance in baseball last season. While Headley was regarded as a decent third baseman in past seasons, he provided little power at his position. That changed drastically in 2012. Headley mashed 31 home runs despite playing half his games in a stadium that severely limits power. There were rumors that the San Diego Padres could make Headley available during the offseason, but the team vehemently denied they would entertain the possibility. With the team re-signing veterans Carlos Quentin and Huston Street, they seem to think they can compete for the division relatively soon. In order to do that, they’ll need Headley to sustain his offensive gains.

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Brandon Belt is entering a critical year. A former top prospect, it would be fair to say that Belt hasn’t lived up to the hype during his one and a half seasons in the majors. As we know, it’s not entirely his fault. Despite Belt’s billing as an impact prospect, he hasn’t been utilized in a full-time role all that much. But entering his age-25 season, Belt will go into the season with no competition for the San Francisco Giants’ first base spot. Playing for a team that has shown little patience with his struggles in the past, Belt is going to have to prove that he has what it takes to make it as a big league first baseman.

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