MLB Trade Rumors

The winter meetings are usually a pretty dull period of time for the Colorado Rockies. They are not the type of team that is going to throw around huge money to big-name free agents.

Via Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports:

While the major deals of the MLB offseason have long since had all their i's dotted and their t's crossed, there are still some last rounds of spring cleaning that need to take place before everything is set.

A bit of moving the furniture around, if you would.  Contract extensions to be signed, arbitration hearings to be avoided, and few free agent stragglers here and there.

So without further ado, here's a rundown of the latest news of the day in baseball.

While Joe Mauer and Brian McCann rate as the best-known offensive catchers in baseball, Geovany Soto was the best hitter in the league at that position in 2010.

Though he got only 387 plate appearances due to a mixture of injuries and managerial stupidity, Soto logged a career-best .890 OPS and socked 17 home runs.

The Oakland Athletics might not be done with their busy offseason yet.

A source told the Contra Costa Times that the A's are interested in Seattle Mariners' infielder Chone Figgins.

The current talk, according to the source, involves Oakland sending current third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and "perhaps a pitcher" to Seattle in exchange for Figgins.

There are rumors swirling that Joe Blanton of the Philadelphia Phillies is available for trade. The Phillies currently have the best rotation in baseball with Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, and either Kyle Kendrick or Blanton.

As a Rockies fan, I don't see us trading for Blanton, but I believe we should, and I would definitely welcome the move. Here's why.

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Ah, yes. Chone Figgins. The man that was supposed to tag team with Ichiro to form a 1-2 punch in the lineup that would drive managers and pitchers batty.

Things didn't go so hot for Figgins. Which, under normal circumstances, wouldn't make him a guy you'd give up on. However, consider almost ever other Mariners player had a poor season and the team now looks to rebuild, Figgins and his big contract are no longer a good fit.

In yet another jarring display of general ineptitude, Toronto Blue Jays GM (and newly-minted golden boy) Alex Anthopolous has traded the recently acquired Mike Napoli yet again—this time for the most fungible of baseball assets: a right-handed relief pitcher.

A dead-on average one, at that. 

We're almost ready to turn the calendar to February, and every baseball fan knows that February means pitchers and catchers, which means it's almost March, which means spring training games, which means it's almost April, which means the season is starting.

Really, it's like, gonna be here tomorrow.

The MLB free agency season is winding down, with pitchers and catchers reporting to camp only a few weeks from now. Even so, many deals are still being made by teams looking for that extra edge when the season begins.

With spring training just over a month away, many teams are wrapping up their rosters. What final moves are they making? What players have been signed so that their teams avoid arbitration? Also, what is going on behind the scenes in the Yankees clubhouse after the Rafael Soriano signing?