Michael Bourn

As of now, the bulk of the MLB offseason activity is complete. The majority of the major free agents have signed. And if a blockbuster trade was going to take place, chances are it would have happened by now.

Five weeks remain between now and some of the most optimistic words in baseball:

"Pitchers and catchers report."

Before then, there are some things that still need to sort themselves out. While most of the MLB offseason is over, these storylines still need some sort of resolution.

With the clock ticking down to the beginning of Spring Training, General Manager Jack Zduriencik and the Seattle Mariners continue to search high and low for ways to improve their roster.

The Seattle Mariners need more offensive production if they are going to compete in the American League West.

What was anticipated as being a big offseason for the Seattle Mariners has been anything but. To this point, Seattle has re-signed pitchers Oliver Pérez and Hisashi Iwakuma, traded for Robert Andino and Kendrys Morales, and signed free-agent outfielders Jason Bay and Raúl Ibañez.

It was rather shocking to see Michael Bourn's name linked to the New York Yankees this winter.

It's shocking because the Yankees already have their outfield all set for the 2013 season with Brett Gardner in left, Curtis Granderson in center and the recently re-signed Ichiro Suzuki in right.

Many of MLB's top 2013 free agents have made some surprising moves in the last week, but there still are a few great players left on the major league market.

The list is shrinking at a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pace, and these players are sure to find homes soon.

Technically, open season on MLB free agents does not begin until the sixth day after the World Series concludes.

But you could forgive most fans for feeling like free agent season really began Friday night, with Josh Hamilton being booed off the field in his last two at-bats as the Texas Rangers bowed quietly to the Baltimore Orioles in the one-game playoff between the two American League wild cards.

For the first month of the season, the Astros were the worst team in baseball.  They garnered a bit of respect by finishing 33-27 down the stretch.

This is clearly a team rebuilding.  They traded their two most recognizable names, Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman, before the trade deadline.

Before spring training started, some people had guarded optimism about this team heading into 2011. After trading away top stars Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt, they had a record above .500 and were playing pretty good baseball down the stretch. They had four rookies in their starting lineup and rotation and if these young players continued to develop, the Astros would be competitive this season.

The Houston Astros decided about halfway through last season that it was time to enter that period that no fan wants to hear, and that is rebuilding. The Astros decided to trade away the only remaining players from that 2005 team that made the World Series.