MLB Free Agency

Money is the name of the game in Major League Baseball free agency, which often results in the rich only getting richer by plucking the game's top free agents.

And for every highly coveted free-agent superstar who signs elsewhere and flourishes, there's also a big name who never comes close to living up to the gaudy price tag that he showed up with. 

Here are a couple of gems in this year's class that will pay dividends for the owners and general managers who pony up the funds.

The Major League Baseball free-agent market isn't ripe with young, ascending players that are guaranteed to give their next employer great production for the duration of a contract. Instead, the list of 2014 MLB free agents is littered with question marks. 

Expect the New York Yankees to be at the epicenter of everything free agency this offseason.

Not only are they the franchise with the most money to spend. They also have extremely large holes to fill.

The Yankees will be a possible landing spot for what seems like just about every top free agent available on the market.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia is your value item of the 2013 free-agent catcher market.

Any team prone to clipping coupons or value hunting would do well to take a gander at the Red Sox backstop.

MLB Contributor Gabe Zaldivar breaks down one of the premier catchers on the open market at the moment, and at 28, he is clearly one of the rare players at the position with looming upside.

The 2014 offseason will be an exciting one for MLB. There are many intriguing and desirable names that fans want their team to land. With big names such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Robinson Cano and Shin-Soo Choo headlining the free agency market, the rest of the free agents should not be overlooked.

MLB free agency is about a week old now and there still hasn't been much action. But expect that to heat up with 13 players declining their respective qualifying offers on Tuesday, per Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, cementing the dynamics of the offseason market.

While it's the big-name free agents signing multi-year, $100 million-plus contracts that steal the offseason headlines, the value moves teams make to fill out their roster and save payroll space are just as important to building a championship team.

Whether it's a player primed for a bounce-back season, a veteran looking to prove he still has something left in the tank or simply a second-tier option that will cost less than the marquee name at the position, there are plenty of value plays to be made each winter.

The San Francisco Giants, for the first time in a long time, are going to make splashy moves in the offseason.

San Francisco already dished out lofty amounts of money to retain Hunter Pence and Tim Lincecum, but    there is still more to do. Left field needs to be upgraded, the pitching staff needs to be filled out and the bench needs improvement.

What should the Giants do this offseason?

There's no doubt that there are some supremely talented hitters available on the MLB free-agent market this winter. 

As general managers scour the market for that impact bat, which will likely cost an exorbitant sum, they will have to dig deep inside the numbers. There are plenty of red flags to consider. Has a player been linked to PEDs in the past? What are his platoon splits? And finally, what kind of a health record does he have?

Injuries always negatively affect a player's earning potential heading into MLB free agency, but they don't necessarily make him any less popular among needy teams.

The following veterans all have track records of success that practically ensure that they'll receive major league deals this winter.