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While the preeminent free agents of the MLB offseason remain unsigned, the deals we’ve seen so far—almost all for complementary-type players—should still likely affect the market at their respective positions. Here’s a look at how those markets are shaping up.

Starting pitchers

The rumor mill hasn’t churned out much of note about the top tier of free-agent starting pitchers, but a few secondary types have signed on already and a few more remain on the market.

To me, the completed deals look slightly team-friendly, which bodes well for teams that are wading in those waters or even the next tier down.

– Giants sign Tim Hudson for two years, $24M
– Dodgers sign Dan Haren for one year, $10M
– Padres sign Josh Johnson for one year, $8M

If we assume that one win above replacement is worth about $6M, then none of these pitchers will have to do too much to earn their respective keeps.

The Giants are paying Hudson to be a two-WAR pitcher this year and next, a hurdle he cleared in 2012 and was on pace to clear again in 2013 before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Haren was worth 1.8 WAR in 2012 and 1.5 in 2013, so the Dodgers are wisely paying him on par with that production, but if you buy his second-half resurgence, he could end up outproducing his paycheck by a win or more. Johnson, ironically, got the least lucrative of these deals but has the highest upside; he just needs to stay healthy.

Bartolo Colon could sign for something in Haren’s neighborhood, and Scott Feldman, Phil Hughes and Scott Baker are guys who will draw interest and probably sign for even cheaper deals than Johnson’s.

Outfielders

Interestingly, teams appear more willing to overspend in years for outfielders than pitchers so far this offseason, at least for the second-tier types.

Marlon Byrd, David DeJesus, David Murphy and Ryan Sweeney have all signed two-year pacts. We can also throw utility man Skip Schumaker in there, although he plays the infield as well. What three of them—DeJesus, Murphy and Sweeney—have in common is that they’re left-handed-hitting platoon candidates.

On the one hand, it just feels like an overpay when you’re committing two years to a guy like DeJesus or Murphy; their production isn’t that scarce, and there seem to be a couple of them available every offseason. On the other, if you’re mostly playing them in a way that only accentuates their strengths, you don’t feel like you’re asking too much of them.

With the exception of Byrd, each is paid like a one-win player—or less. In that light, these deals seem pretty reasonable, especially since some of these guys have had two- and three-win seasons in their careers.

The other outfielder of note to sign this offseason is Chris Young, whom the Mets got for one year and $7.25M. Young is coming off two disappointing/injury-plagued seasons, so it stands to reason he had to settle for one year. But considering he’s only entering his age-30 season and was a 4.5-fWAR player as recently as 2011, he also has the highest upside.

If you were looking for a cheap-ish but useful outfielder this offseason, that ship has pretty much sailed. All that remains in that class is Nate McLouth, who might be able get a deal comparable to Murphy’s as the left-handed-hitting half of a platoon. Franklin Gutierrez and Mike Morse are also still out there and should draw interest, probably on modest one-year deals, perhaps even minor-league deals.

Meanwhile, the pricier guys like Carlos Beltran and Curtis Granderson are still available. Beltran wants three years, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News, and despite his age, he’s wise to push for it considering the market has yielded two years for platoon guys and glove-first types. Likewise, Granderson will probably seek four years.

Second basemen

The premier free agent of this year’s class, of course, is Robinson Cano. We still don’t know exactly how much he’ll sign for, but he’ll likely become just the fifth free agent in MLB history to break the $200M barrier. That should price him out of most teams’ budgets, but it shouldn’t influence the market very much for other second basemen. In other words, Cano’s market is its own beast.

However, there are still a couple decent keystoners available who shouldn’t command franchise-altering contracts or anything close to it. They seem to be drawing only modest interest so far, which could serve to keep their price tags palatable for most teams.

Omar Infante isn’t the most exciting player on the market, but he’s actually well above average, at least judging by wins above replacement. Fangraphs pegs him for 10.3 WAR over the past four years, which is good for ninth-best among MLB second basemen in that span.

Most of Infante‘s value is derived from his defense. He’s very good with the glove and can play multiple positions; I wonder if some team will even consider moving him back to shortstop, which he played earlier in his career. Offensively, he’s a career .279/.319/.402 hitter, which is a little bit better than last year’s league average for second basemen: .257/.316/.376.

Perhaps it’s because Infante is a glove-first player with modest power that he seems a bit overlooked, but I think he could end up being a really good value at something like three years and $24M. Entering his age-32 season, the clock is ticking on his career, but he could earn back the value of a deal like this by the middle or end of the second year.

As with Infante, Mark Ellis is an aging, defense-first second baseman who continues to be well liked by advanced metrics. Ellis, 36, churned out 1.8 WAR in 480 plate appearances with the Dodgers last season, hitting an underwhelming .270/.323/.351 but fielding his position well.

Ellis probably shouldn’t be an everyday second baseman at this point in his career—maybe on a bad team—but he was a 2.7-fWAR player as recently as 2012 and, again, was more than passable last season. Considering he’ll probably only sign for one year and a couple million bucks, he could earn his salary and then some as a backup if he plays good defense and gets on base at a respectable rate if pressed into regular playing time.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The offseason rumor mill has been churning long enough by now that we have a decent idea of which teams are interested in which free agents. As is the case every year, it’s pretty safe to assume the top-shelf players will be pursued most aggressively by deep-pocketed suitors with whom there’s an obvious fit.

But where’s the fun in predicting Robinson Cano to the Yanks, or Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Mike Napoli to the Red Sox? After all, it only takes one enterprising team to make a surprise bid and come away with a shiny new toy to show off to its fanbase.

Here’s a look at some of the top free agents on the market, and the teams that, while not considered front-runners to sign them, could nonetheless use their services—and might have the means and inclination to make it happen.

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The St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers faced off in a classic World Series in 2011, but now they can come together for their mutual benefit. The Cards’ pursuit of a shortstop and the Rangers’ apparent willingness to deal from a middle-infield surplus have emerged as prominent story lines early in this offseason.

Here’s a deal I think works for both sides:

Cardinals get: SS Elvis Andrus

Rangers get:  first baseman and designated hitter Allen Craig, along with right-handed pitcher Shelby Miller

Although some reports suggest the Cardinals are looking first at acquiring Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, such a deal would be pretty difficult to swing, explains Dave Cameron of Fangraphs. The Rangers, though, could make for a better trade partner.

Pete Kozma, the incumbent St. Louis shortstop, is great defensively, but he’s basically a non-entity with the bat. Andrus is also a glove-first shortstop, but he possesses a nuanced offensive skill set that brings extra value where a Kozma-type doesn’t. Specifically, he gets on base at a respectable clip, and he’s also been one of the best baserunners in MLB since he broke in five years ago. It doesn’t sound like much, but that makes a big difference, at least for metrics like WAR.

For the Rangers, they get to satisfy two needs in this deal.

First baseman Mitch Moreland proved he’s not an everyday player last season, and Texas general manager Jon Daniels has said he wants to add more punch to the lineup. Craig, a flawed player but an offensive asset, can do just that.

A right-handed hitter, Craig makes tons of hard contact, and has been worth 3.25 fWAR per 600 PAs in his career, almost all of which is derived from his performance at the plate. He’s a defensive liability even at first base, and his power took a downturn last year owing to his surging line-drive rate, but Craig can hit. Moving to Texas, where the ball flies, should help him regain some of that lost power, as his batted-ball distance should rebound a bit, as Fangraphs’ Matt Podhorzer explains.

The tricky part is getting Craig those 600 PAs—which he’s yet to do in the Major Leagues—but the idea here is that allowing him to be a DH on occasion will help to keep him on the field (or at the plate, as it were).

Miller was a blue-chip prospect and lived up to the hype in his rookie season at age 22, posting a 3.06 ERA/3.67 FIP. He throws hard, struck out nearly a batter per inning and walked fewer than three per nine. Miller is already a top-of-the-rotation starter and probably has some room to grow considering his age and upside.

Miller would slide into the Rangers’ rotation nicely, joining Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, Martin Perez and Alexi Ogando for a formidable 1-5.

In terms of contracts and money moving in either direction, this one might be more equitable than you think.

Andrus’ eight-year, $120 million deal (which kicks in in 2015) would be the biggest one in the trade by far, but it may not end up being as burdensome as it appears. Andrus has opt-out clauses after both 2018 and 2019, so the Cardinals aren’t necessarily on the hook for the entire $120 million. He’s set to earn $15 million per year beginning in 2015—which is about fair-market price for a shortstop of his caliber—so he will have earned $60 million or $75 million at the time of a potential opt-out. That’s not cheap, but it’s not onerous, either, especially if he’s healthy and doesn’t decline unexpectedly in his late twenties.

Craig is owed $31 million through 2017 as part of an extension he signed in March, which essentially bought out his years of arbitration eligibility. There’s also a $13 million team option for 2018, with a $1 million buyout. Miller is under team control for five more years and will be dirt cheap the next two years before he’s even eligible for arbitration for the first time after the 2015 season.

In drawing from their respective roster surpluses to make this deal, the Cardinals and Rangers free up positions for other players to step in. The Cards have Matt Adams ready to take over at first base. He brings more power to the table than Craig, and his presence in the lineup means the Cardinals no longer have to shoehorn Craig’s shoddy defense into right field to keep his bat in the lineup. It also means the Cardinals need a right fielder—whether that be prized prospect Oscar Taveras or perhaps a free agent, such as Carlos Beltran.

Miller’s departure from the Cardinals’ rotation isn’t insignificant for now or the long-term future, but they still have Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly, and they can also move Carlos Martinez from the bullpen back into the rotation, as he’s been groomed as a starter throughout his minor league career prior to joining the Redbirds’ relief corps late in 2013.

In moving Andrus, the Rangers can pivot to another prized prospect, infielder Jurickson Profar. He can take over at shortstop, while Ian Kinsler remains at second base.

The Cardinals probably get the best player in this deal in Andrus, at least today, but he’s also the most expensive, and Miller projects to be the most valuable relative to what he costs when you consider his talent and how little he’ll earn for five more years.

It seems intuitive, but a trade like this one is an illustration of the importance of consistently drafting and developing good young players.

What does everyone else think?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With the free-agent market pretty thin on top-flight pitchers, the biggest potential move involving a hurler this offseason might end up being a trade. Knowing they probably can’t afford to re-sign David Price when he hits free agency after the 2015 season, the Rays are reportedly considering dealing the 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner.

While Price may be the most coveted pitcher on the move this Hot Stove season, there’s still some intriguing arms that can be had the old fashioned way: with cold, hard cash (and maybe a draft pick).

With all due respect to Tim Hudson, Phil Hughes and Roy Halladay—all pitchers who’ve enjoyed varying degrees of success in their respective careers—these are the top free-agent arms.

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While superstars Robinson Cano and Jacoby Ellsbury headline MLB‘s free agent class this offseason, several big names could be on the move via the old-fashioned way: trades.

In fact, when the trade dust settles, a Cy Young winner, MVP runner-up and World Series MVP may all have new homes by Opening Day 2014.

Read on to find out which players might be packaged in Hot Stove blockbusters.

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