Has it been a long enough winter yet? Have we had enough snow throughout the country? I am so ready for baseball to begin this year, the anticipation is killing me (never mind that I just want to get the visual image of those ugly 2013 games out of my head).

There are so many things to look forward to this season my head is already starting to get! The new additions (McCann, Ellsbury, Beltran and to a lesser extent Johnson and Roberts) should definitely add some excitement, power, patience and just about every other upgrade you could possibly think of over last year's Triple-A-plus-Cano-and-Gardner lineup and help of set the unfortunate loss of Cano to the Mariners. The import (Tanaka) should add some much needed depth and youth to the starting rotation. The farm system should bounce back in a major way. I'm actually really excited about the farm this year because there's no way they can be as bad as they were last year again this season. I'm expecting bounce back seasons from Heathcott, Austin, Williams, Banuelos and Flores as well as the continued growth of Sanchez and the beginning of the careers of last season's 3 first rounders Jagielo, Clarkin and Judge. The new look bullpen is going to be fun to watch take shape depending on how things play out in spring training (I'm not even gonna predict for fear of jinxing my preferences). 

The farewell tour for Yankee Legend Derek Jeter should also be fun to watch this season. His ranking in the Mount Rushmore of Yankee greats can be debated but his ability to be in the conversation can't be denied (my personal opinion can be reserved until the end of the season when he's finally finished but I honestly believe his 5 championships in this modern playoff format is remarkable). I was incredibly surprised by his announcement this off-season of his impending retirement. Two friends actually tested me and told me they were sorry for my loss. I always saw Jeter going out with a Brett Favre kind of stubbornness, holding on until it was painfully obvious that he was done. I'm actually happy it happened the way it did because now we fans won't have to suffer through injury riddled, body breaking down seasons, we can appreciate him for the future Hall of Famer that he is for one final go round, even if it's subpar by typical Jeter standards it will be better an last season by default.

This is my favorite time of year. The beginning of spring. The beginning of baseball!