Fan News

When I discussed the players the Los Angeles Dodgers had sent to the Arizona Fall League, I mentioned that many of the top players were position players. The pattern held; over the course of the month, the hitters far outperformed the pitchers. This is not surprising given the talent disparity, but it's noteworthy.

The New York Mets started the offseason with an unexpected bang, inking veteran Michael Cuddyer to a two-year, $21 million pact. Since then, they've gone mostly quiet.

That has to change if New York is truly shifting into win-now mode, as assistant general manager John Ricco suggested after the Cuddyer signing.

Folks in baseball circles probably wouldn't be surprised if the Cincinnati Reds dealt a starting pitcher this offseason. The Reds might take a different, more surprising plan of action to trim some payroll, however, as they are reportedly considering trading away outfielder Jay Bruce. 

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has the report:

Coming into the MLB offseason, you could look at the Washington Nationals and conclude within, oh, three seconds that the last thing they needed to tinker with was their starting rotation.

But now it sounds like general manager Mike Rizzo might do that anyway. And if he does, he could do so in a big way.

On the list of offseason storylines to watch in Major League Baseball, 19-year-old Cuban infielder Yoan Moncada is near the top.     

There are expected to be many teams in on the bidding, which figures to get very expensive. One team with interest in Moncada are the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants, according to comments made to KNBR by Bobby Evans, who works in the front office:

You can feel the urgency between Major League Baseball teams and players picking up each day. There's been a pattern in recent years where it took months for deals and trades to happen. That hasn't been the case so far this offseason, which leads to more excitement and unpredictability. 

One year after being traded to the Washington Nationals, right-handed pitcher Doug Fister could be on the move yet again. 

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Nationals would be inclined to deal Fister under the right circumstances:

There are five main negatives I looked at for a player to qualify for this list: age, injury history, current contract, rumored acquisition cost and opportunity cost.

In a perfect world, teams would trade for young players who are either signed to team-friendly deals or are young and not injury-prone, so signing them to a long-term deal would be a smart move. While the cost in those deals will be higher, the value of high-end, cost-controlled prospects around the league is greater than ever, so it is even more important to get equal value in return.

The hot-stove season is less than a month underway, but the Boston Red Sox have wasted no time stealing plenty of headlines.

When it comes to Major League Baseball's offseason, the speculation and rumors are at least half the fun.

The rest, of course, is actually finding out which players were traded for each other and who signed with what team and for how much.

With the hot stove burning up with news, reports and hearsay, it's time to separate which stories have something to them and which ones don't with a little "fact or fiction."

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