Opinion

The week after baseball’s winter meetings often represents a calm in the offseason. Having engaged in unrelenting trade and free-agent discussions, teams step back and evaluate their roster to date.

But that doesn’t mean we should stop asking questions.

Several of the moves have prompted forward-looking thoughts about the upcoming season. Sure, there’s still work to be done, players to be signed and trades to be worked out.

The New York Yankees are rebuilding. They're also trying to win. That's how it works in the Bronx.

When Mike Dunn gets $19 million from the Colorado Rockies, it tells you it's always great to be a left-handed reliever.

It also tells you Ian Desmond was right.

When the Rockies made Desmond's five-year, $70 million deal official this week, Colorado's new first baseman (or will he be an outfielder?) spoke of joining a team on the rise.

The countdown to 2018 began a while back. Everyone in baseball could see it coming because the names were too big to ignore, the dollars too big to even imagine.

Bryce Harper. Manny Machado. Josh Donaldson. Zach Britton. Andrew Miller. All ready to hit the free-agent market the same winter.

Clayton Kershaw. David Price. Both have opt-out clauses that could send them into that same market.

If you were to cross paths with Jose Bautista and offer him a penny to play a game of catch, you might have just made the leading offer for his services.

The MLB offseason has already given trade hounds plenty to chew on.

Much of the action has come courtesy of the Chicago White Sox, who shipped ace lefty Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox and outfielder Adam Eaton to the Washington Nationals.

Many top targets remain on the board, however, and with the free-agent pool getting shallower, we can expect a few more seismic swaps before winter's end.

The timing couldn't be much worse for an aging slugger in MLB free agency.

Mike Napoli (35) and Mark Trumbo (30) are both coming off productive seasons, but they've yet to find new homes. Although Jose Bautista (36) had an underwhelming campaign, he still boasts an impressive track record. Despite that, he hasn't signed with a team, either.

The MLB winter meetings have come and gone with no shortage of excitement, but there are still several notable free agents left unsigned and holes to be filled on all 30 rosters around the league.

Edwin Encarnacion, Mark Trumbo, Jose Bautista, Matt Wieters, Mike Napoli, Michael Saunders, Rajai Davis, Welington Castillo, Brandon Moss and Chase Utley are among the top position players still searching for a new home.

Deals are made in MLB—both trades and free-agent signings—to make a team better. That's obvious. But it's worth saying nonetheless because that doesn't always end up being the case.

Once games begin, some moves seem like bargains. Others become head-scratchers, and then some are just foolhardy.

The final verdict on all of these deals won't be reached until the end of the 2017 season at least. But waiting for October is no fun. Let's take a look at how all the major moves of this MLB offseason break down right now.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to be good in 2017. For fans of the franchise, this must be at once comforting and beside the point.

The Dodgers being good has been a fact of life for the last four seasons. They've averaged 92 wins per year, captured four National League West titles and made two trips to the National League Championship Series. That's one more than the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos have made in 48 years of existence.

The problem, of course, has been ascending from good to great.