Thanksgiving is behind us (belch), and the winter meetings kick off Dec. 4, but MLB‘s hot stove is lukewarm at best.
Sure, a few meaningful deals have gone down. The Houston Astros signed outfielder Josh Reddick and acquired catcher Brian McCann from the New York Yankees. On Wednesday, the Seattle Mariners shipped mercurial right-hander Taijuan Walker to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a five-player swap.
Most of the top free agents and trade targets remain on the board, however.
That’s not completely unusual; big names often sign after the holidays and well into the new year.
However, with uncertainty swirling around the soon-to-expire collective bargaining agreement, it feels as though players, agents and executives are hanging back like shy partygoers shuffling their feet by the punchbowl.
With that in mind, let’s crank up the music and run through a half-dozen moves clubs should pull the trigger on as soon as possible—mostly because it would behoove them, but also because we’re ready for some action.