MLB Free Agency

No player enters free agency hoping to sign in January. No team wants to let half the winter go by with significant needs unfilled.

But here we are in the new year. Free agents remain unsigned. Deals that had to be made remain undone.

And Jose Bautista wonders where it all went wrong. Or maybe he doesn't.

It's hardly a surprise that the winter meetings have been notable for trades, both finalized and speculative, because this year's free-agent market features more questions than immediate answers. 

Yoenis Cespedes did take some of the drama out of this week by re-signing with the New York Mets early, though it never felt like another significant team was in the sweepstakes for him. 

Slowly but surely the free-agent dominoes are beginning to fall around Major League Baseball. It should make for an intriguing December as the marquee names still available make their decisions about where to play in 2017 and beyond.

As always, there are some eye-popping numbers being thrown around during the early stages of the offseason. But that's all part of the roster-building process. Sometimes front offices are forced to overpay a bit in order to fill a void on their roster with a coveted target.

The dominoes generally don't start falling on the MLB offseason until the winter meetings roll around, but the rumor mill is already in full swing.

Offseason markets are so intertwined that one signing can often trigger a trickle-down effect and spark a flurry of activity with teams scrambling to lock down plan B after missing out on plan A.

For now, all we have is a spattering of rumors from around the MLB community to hold us over until the hot stove really heats up a month or so from now.

An epic 2016 World Series ended with one of the most memorable games in recent baseball history. The Chicago Cubs ended their 108-year championship drought with an 8-7, 10-inning win over the Cleveland Indians in Game 7.

Even with the MLB playoffs ongoing, many MLB fans are beginning to look ahead to the offseason and speculate where the biggest stars might land.

Teams around baseball that venture into the offseason free-agent market looking to upgrade their lineup, bench or bullpen should be able to find some useful assets. The same can't be said for those clubs hoping to improve their rotation with extremely limited options at starting pitcher.

The MLB offseason is here for the majority of teams around the league, and all of those squads are looking to see how to improve toward next season.

Although there aren't many impact free agents available in the 2017 class, a team can add a game-changing talent if it is willing to pay the price.

Here are some of the latest rumors surrounding the top players on the market.

While the top teams in the league are focused on the postseason, the rest of Major League Baseball is looking toward the future for players who can turn around fortunes next year.

With the end of the MLB regular season only days away, teams around the league can start to make plans about how to attack a free-agent market that is light on starting pitchers but loaded with impact relievers.