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As Chicago prepares itself for its first major snowstorm of the season, members of the Ricketts family and the front office prepare to make the trip to Orlando for next week's winter meetings.

Jealous much? Thought so.

Many topics will be addressed and decided on at the meetings, from the future of instant replay to the fate of free agents around the league.

The biggest story of the MLB offseason to this point broke on Friday afternoon, as Robinson Cano and the Seattle Mariners agreed on a massive 10-year, $240 million deal just days before this year's winter meetings kick off in Orlando.

Former New York Yankees starting pitcher Phil Hughes is headed to the Minnesota Twins after signing a three-year, $24 million deal, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn should give his counterpart with the New York Mets a call and offer up Dayan Viciedo for second baseman Daniel Murphy.

It could be an ideal scenario for both the White Sox and the Mets, actually.

With one month of the MLB offseason complete and the winter meetings coming up, what has already been a busy first few weeks of transactions promises to only get busier in the weeks ahead.

With the MLB winter meetings rapidly approaching, there's sure to be a flurry of activity on the free-agent market.

That means it's time to re-rank the top 10 MLB offseason targets as the calendar turns to December. With big names like Brian McCann and Jhonny Peralta already off the board, there's some reshuffling to be done. 

Even though it is still early in the offseason, there have already been a few MLB teams that have taken big steps forward for the 2014 season.

Some franchises have looked to the trade market to fill a pressing need, while others have been able to pick up impact free agents.

There is still a lot of time left this winter, and there are many big-name players on the market. Thus far, there are some clear early winners of the 2014 MLB offseason.

For a Chicago Cubs team that will be continuing their rebuild in 2014, the starting lineup presents a major question mark at several different positions. While prospects will be coming up sporadically through the minor leagues this season and next, the Opening Day lineup figures to be full of fill-in players or players looking to bounce back from last season.

The Cincinnati Reds recently made two quick fixes to their roster that will solidify their team in 2014.

Teams around Major League Baseball that are unable to find the right player for a reasonable price in free agency turn to the trade market instead. It could become a common theme this winter with a limited number of impact free agents available.

It comes down to maximizing value. General managers must decide whether it makes more sense to pay slightly over market value to secure a free agent or move an asset already within the organization to acquire a player to fill the same void.