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It’s fairly easy to write a check. Do you want a free agent on your team? All an executive really needs to do is offer that player a bigger contract than every other team in contention for his services.

The more difficult task for general managers around the game is to identify players who offer an organization great value.

Inevitably, those players are flawed. Otherwise, they would be fielding high-priced offers that would negate the idea that they bring any value. So have an open mind when considering the following choices.

Sure there are holes in each player’s game but might some teams see a bargain and take a risk?

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The recently signed labor agreement answers so many questions, namely that we’ll have baseball in 2017. But also that free agency is sure to begin in short order.

Over the next several weeks, which include the baseball winter meetings, a flurry of deals should be made—both in free agency and the trade market. But given that there has been little action this offseason, there is so much we don’t know about how the next few weeks might play out.

And, well, this raises a whole bunch of other questions. Let’s go ahead and try to get some answers.

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We can break down trades in a simple way: Their idea is to make both teams better.

There are teams currently in rebuild mode that hold elite players under contract, and other teams looking to contend in 2017 could use those aforementioned players.

If the latter teams are able to send prospects in return, that’s a win-win for both organizations. The rebuilding team nets something for the future, and the contending one gets something for right now.

Which teams fall into which category this offseason? And which players might be dealt?

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Any good baseball executive enters free agency with more than one plan in mind.

Even the best of baseball operations departments cannot predict what a player may decide. A team can target a free agent and offer him a great deal, but ultimately the decision lies with the player.

So, many teams have to put alternative plans into action.

Yes, fans can hope that their team lands its top targets. But should it not, take a look at who your team may fall back on.

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Like the action on the field, Major League Baseball doesn’t always follow the offseason script outsiders anticipate.

Big-market clubs don’t always make the biggest splashes. And teams we expect to stay silent sometimes emerge as the offseason’s biggest surprises. So as we embark on a winter that could see an unusual number of trades, let’s take a look at which teams could come up with unexpected hot-stove moves.

Could those clubs end up doing the same once the 2017 season ends?

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Let’s pretend for just a moment that Theo Epstein isn’t some sort of divine power, which, if you polled those in Chicago, is the pervasive feeling since baseball underwent its version of an apocalypse: a Chicago Cubs World Series win.

We’ll then acknowledge that the Cubs president of baseball operations cannot possibly lure every free agent to his club. That would mean free-agent closer Aroldis Chapman and center fielder Dexter Fowler, key components to the 2016 squad, may not return.

Truth is it’s unlikely that either will rejoin the Cubs in 2017 because, well, Epstein really isn’t superhuman. Though after being the architect of the two teams—the Boston Red Sox and Cubs—that broke professional sports’ longest championship droughts, we can agree he’s the closest baseball has to it.

Each player will be offered lucrative contracts from several teams. No reports, thus far, have indicated the Cubs have made a long-term offer to either player.

But in the event that Epstein is able to wave a magic wand—or more likely team owner Tom Ricketts’ checkbook—and convince only one of the two to return to Chicago’s north side, he should use it to focus on bringing Fowler back.

He is the more critical player to a Cubs repeat.

Forget that Chapman was brought to Chicago via a midseason trade with the New York Yankees and was somewhat of a disappointment in the playoffs. The left-handed flamethrower’s influence on the Cubs bullpen was overwhelmingly positive.

But even if he were with the team for the entirety of the 2017 season, his impact would be far less than that of Fowler, who served as Chicago’s leadoff hitter in 2016.

The easiest way to compare a position player to a pitcher is by using Wins Above Replacement (WAR), an all-inclusive statistic that seeks to measure a player’s total value to his team. According to FanGraphs, Fowler’s was 4.7 in 2016 compared to Chapman’s 2.7, a difference that indicates the former contributed more heavily to Chicago’s championship run.

It’s too difficult to debate whether Fowler’s 84 runs scored is more notable than Chapman’s 36 saves in 2016. There’s no way to differentiate which is better: Fowler’s career-best .393 on-base percentage or Chapman’s 0.825 WHIP last season.

As a fielder, Fowler’s defensive runs above average was 2.7, according to FanGraphs. That ranked 13th among all MLB outfielders. He brought value to the team with his bat and glove.

But nonetheless, definitively, we can conclude that both players were good in 2016. Arguing who had the better stat line is a futile exercise because pitching is measured much differently than hitting.

Fowler’s superior value amounts to this: He plays more games.

Watching a relief pitcher play in the postseason is like reading with a magnifying glass. Everything looks bigger.

Many baseball games—during both the regular season and playoffs—are determined in the late innings with a reliever on the mound. In the playoffs, however, one game means so much more.

The value of a shutdown inning, therefore, is higher in the postseason.

But the San Francisco Giants led MLB in blown saves but still made the playoffs. And once the postseason began, the game’s best reliever, Andrew Miller, didn’t pitch the ninth inning. Hard-line sabermetricians will argue that a team’s best reliever should pitch the eighth inning, not the ninth. So, it stands to reason that the closer position isn’t as crucial as during the regular season.

So, a reliever has less influence on a team over the course of a 162-game regular season. One inning pitched just matters less, even if it is in the ninth inning.

As a leadoff hitter, Fowler is virtually guaranteed four plate appearances. His ability to score runs far outweighs Chapman’s ability to hold a team scoreless in one inning. Reality is that a closer like Chapman is useless without the lead anyway.

This means he needs players like Fowler to score in order to be called out of the bullpen.

And that’s probably the reason why manager Joe Maddon tagged the mantra “you go, we go” to Fowler’s performance on a given day.

As the leadoff hitter, if Fowler gets on base, it has a residual effect on the rest of the lineup. That equals run production.

And though this may be obvious, it’s worth stating: Teams have to score to win.

No matter how well Chapman or any pitcher plays, he can’t be the difference in a game when his offense is shut out. But an offensive player can carry a team on a day when his pitching staff is playing poorly.

At this stage in the offseason, though, we are really unsure of what might happen with either player. A dream scenario could be one in which both return, though it’s more likely that neither plays for the Cubs in 2017. There are closer options in free agency like Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon. The Cubs have internal options as a replacement for Fowler in center field such as Albert Almora and Jason Heyward. If Heyward moved from right to center field, Ben Zorbist could take his place in the outfield.

Then again, Fowler was a free agent last offseason too. Chicago didn’t think it had a chance to bring him back, but Epstein pulled it off.

He surprised the team at the beginning of spring training when Fowler walked into the clubhouse. He kept it quiet within the organization and was able to keep the move out of the press. It was an executive’s version of a magic trick.

Cubs fans should be hoping for a second act.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @SethGruen.

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Offseason rumors tend to look like a stock car race.

There are early front-runners, of course. And those teams linked to players in the early stages of the offseason do, quite frequently, end up acquiring said player.

But like any great stock car race, there’s jostling for position. Teams one-up each other, whether in the trade or free-agent markets. Trailing teams often make a last-minute effort and land a player, which nets baseball its share of offseason surprises.

So here are some of this offseason’s biggest names and possible suitors that may shock the collective baseball world. Some are based on speculation, while others have been linked to a specific player. But in all cases, such an acquisition would make sense based on the team’s needs.

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Imagine the 2017 seasons as a bunch of puzzle pieces spread all over a table.

We know which players will influence the outcome of the upcoming baseball season, but we don’t know how they will fit together. The winter provides us with many of those answers.

But until free agents sign and teams conclude trade talks, a handful of questions will surround the 2017 offseason. These are the biggest among them.

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Major League Baseball free agency doesn’t always set up great for everyone.

Of course, there are players whose outstanding 2016 seasons positioned them well for a big payday this winter. But there are also those whose campaigns took a divergent path.

A handful of players had forgettable 2016 seasons, making them reclamation projects for whichever teams elect to sign them. But some might be worth the risk in the hopes of a bounce-back season.

Who might be worth taking a chance on in this winter’s free agency?

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This winter’s MLB free-agent class offers little in the way of impact players. As a result, we could see unusually high movement among the game’s biggest names who are still under contract.

With baseball winter meetings a little less than a month away, a number of star players are already rumored in potential blockbuster deals.

This offseason may be unusual in that the trade market could net more impact moves than free agency. What might those moves be?

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