We're several cold, soggy weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training. Baseball remains an abstraction—a distant, beautiful dream.

Still, it's not too early to gaze through the winter haze toward a few key spring position battles and make some premature predictions.

Starting pitcher Tyson Ross is one of the marquee free agents remaining on the market, and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported he met with the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs. 

Continue for updates.

We're still over a month away from pitchers and catchers making their way to sunny Arizona or Florida, and the hot stove has cooled considerably, so now seems like the perfect time for an updated look at how all 30 MLB farm system stack up.

Nobody's going to criticize the New York Mets for re-signing Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year, $110 million deal. Despite already having a full complement of outfielders under contract, Cespedes is unquestionably the key piece of the team's offense.

But with Cespedes back in the fold, this glut of outfielders has limited the Mets' ability to improve elsewhere—namely in the bullpen.

Signing All-Star closer Mark Melancon to a four-year, $62 million deal was a necessary move for the San Francisco Giants, but it was one that has seemingly limited the team's ability to improve the roster elsewhere.

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced Tuesday the organization filed a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Stadium District over money for capital repairs of Chase Field. 

Major League Baseball already has a $300 million contract. Its first $400 million contract could come soon.

Call it a hunch based on where Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are in their careers.

Fresh off a long-awaited World Series title and with a young core that rivals any in baseball, the Chicago Cubs entered the offseason with a fairly short to-do list.

Wade Davis and Koji Uehara have been added to the back of the bullpen, and veteran outfielder Jon Jay was signed to pair with Albert Almora Jr. in replacing Dexter Fowler in center field.

Unlike the rest of the baseball universe, MLB's rumor mill doesn't get time off to partake in New Year's Eve festivities. There are no parties or concerts; no hanging out in New York's Time Square to watch former pop sensations suffer embarrassing "technical difficulties."

No player enters free agency hoping to sign in January. No team wants to let half the winter go by with significant needs unfilled.

But here we are in the new year. Free agents remain unsigned. Deals that had to be made remain undone.

And Jose Bautista wonders where it all went wrong. Or maybe he doesn't.