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The first five weeks since the Chicago Cubs captured their first World Series title in 108 years have generated one of the most action-packed starts to an MLB offseason in recent memory. From blockbuster trades to lucrative free-agent signings, contenders haven’t hesitated to make splashes.

Now, the question is whether the frenzy will continue straight through the holidays and into the new year or if the movement will begin to calm down following the hectic initial surge. For the sake of entertainment, most baseball fans are probably hoping for the former.

So let’s check out some of the latest rumors making their way around the league and analyze what the potential moves could mean for the players and teams involved.

Multiple Teams Check on Jose Quintana

Quintana, who often got lost in the shadow of the recently departed Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale, was quietly one of the best starting pitchers in the American League last season. He ranked seventh in the Junior Circuit with a 3.20 ERA while striking out 181 batters in 208 innings.

The 27-year-old Colombia native has also been one of the most reliable starters in baseball since breaking into the majors in 2012. He’s never finished a campaign with an ERA above 3.76, and he’s taken the mound at least 32 times in four straight years.

With the White Sox trending toward a complete rebuild, however, he could become the next high-profile asset shipped out for a package of prospects. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros are among the teams showing serious interest.

The Astros are a perfect fit on paper if they’re able to acquire the talented lefty without having to give up any crucial pieces from the major league roster. They own one of the most potent lineups in baseball, thanks to new additions Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann, and they feature a strong bullpen.

While the rotation is solid, led by Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh, it’s the one area where they could still use another high-end asset. Quintana fits the bill after last season, and it makes sense to make a strong push to acquire him with the rest of the roster ready to contend.

Cardinals Set High Price on Kolten Wong

Wong is coming off a down year offensively for the St. Louis Cardinals. While he posted a career-best .327 on-base percentage, the second baseman contributed just five home runs and seven stolen bases. Both numbers were roughly half the production he provided over the previous two years.

Add in the fact the Cardinals are overcrowded in the infield—with seven players to fill four spots—and other teams may view the situation as a chance to buy low on the slick fielder. It doesn’t appear the St. Louis front office is going to bite on the offers, though.

Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reported the Los Angeles Angels expressed interest in Wong during the league’s winter meetings. But he noted the Cards are “unlikely” to trade him away and are still asking for a lot in return to even consider it.

It could be a bit of posturing by St. Louis, though. The team likely needs to do something to alleviate the infield logjam before the start of next season, and moving Wong this winter after the drop-off in his offensive involvement would help do that.

Meanwhile, the Angels could use an upgrade at second base, as Cliff Pennington is penciled in as the projected starter. Wong would represent a nice upgrade for a team that ranked in the bottom third of baseball in fielding percentage last season.

Alex Colome Joins Group of Reliever Targets

Colome was nothing short of dominant in his first season as the Tampa Bay Rays closer. The converted starter posted a microscopic 1.91 ERA to go along with a 1.02 WHIP and 71 strikeouts in 56.2 innings en route to 37 saves with just three blown opportunities.

Those numbers are even more valuable because he’s part of the most coveted group of players this offseason: relievers capable of pitching multiple high-leverage innings. Each championship hopeful wants one in its bullpen after the success of Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller in the playoffs.

Whether the Rays would move Colome is unclear because he’s still under team control for an additional four years, per Spotrac. It’s at least being discussed, though. Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported the Nationals have spoken with Tampa about the closer.

Washington has been linked to virtually every notable late-inning reliever on the free-agent and trade markets since the offseason got underway. It’s a spot of definite need for the reigning NL East champions, who otherwise have a roster built for success once again in 2017.

A Colome trade would come with legitimate risk. He only has one full season of bullpen work under his belt, and the asking price is likely high due to his age (27) and favorable contract situation. But it’s a chance a team like the Nats may feel is worth taking to fill a key void.

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The stories this week about Edwin Encarnacion were mostly about how much money he wasn’t going to get. And maybe he won’t.       

Encarnacion’s market “cratered,” to use the word Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports worked into a tweet Wednesday. And maybe it did.

But unless you’re Encarnacion’s agent or banker or a family member, none of that should be a big concern. We can analyze later, when the final numbers are in, whether Encarnacion and his advisers badly misread the market when they turned down four years and $80 million from the Toronto Blue Jays, as Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported.

Right now, Encarnacion represents something else. He represents opportunity for the many American League teams trying to deal with the loaded Boston Red Sox and for the National League teams still trying to catch up with the Chicago Cubs.

He represents a potential game-changer, because consistent run producers like him aren’t supposed to sit there on the market waiting forever for teams to realize how much they need them. The market this winter has been overloaded with players who can fill an Encarnacion-like role (Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, Jay Bruce, etc.), but there’s only one guy out there who has driven in 97-plus runs each of the last five seasons.

Encarnacion is the guy, and even if you’re down on the value of RBI as a stat, it’s hard not to value what Encarnacion has done. Baseball-Reference.com’s offensive WAR credits him with 22.8 wins over those same five years, 11th in the major leagues and tops among all players who have moved or are likely to move this winter (assuming the Pittsburgh Pirates are now serious about keeping Andrew McCutchen).

So maybe Encarnacion really is an “unlikely” option for the Texas Rangers, as general manager Jon Daniels suggested to reporters, including T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Maybe it really would take “a multimillion dollar miracle” to send Encarnacion back to the Blue Jays, as Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun wrote after listening to Jays general manager Ross Atkins.

“If there’s a way, I don’t see it,” Atkins said.

Some team is going to find a way—that’s for certain. And none of us should be surprised if the team that eventually finds a way ends up playing well into October next year.

The Cleveland Indians seem to understand that, given their reported interest in Encarnacion this week, as Paul Hoynes wrote for Cleveland.com. The Indians have never been among baseball’s big spenders, but when they took advantage of a soft market to sign Mike Napoli for $7 million last winter, they were rewarded with a big season and ultimately a trip to the World Series.

Napoli is a free agent again. Given how much the Indians like him, he could well return. But Encarnacion is a clear step up, and an Indians team that painfully lost the World Series has every reason to look for upgrades.

The same goes for the St. Louis Cardinals. They don’t have the long championship drought the Indians do, but their first playoff-less October since 2010 had to be made more painful by watching the rival Cubs celebrate.

The Cardinals reacted Friday by signing Dexter Fowler, one of the Cubs’ stars. The Cubs were unbothered enough by that news to thank Fowler on Twitter (before going back to plugging their trophy tour):

The reaction from Chicago might not be as positive if the Cardinals follow up by signing Encarnacion, which Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested as a possibility. Fowler gives the Cards a needed spark atop the lineup, but Encarnacion would give them the type of muscle that could actually threaten the Cubs’ intended dynasty.

Then there are the teams that called an Encarnacion signing “unlikely” or said they “don’t see” a way.

As Tim Cowlishaw wrote in the Dallas Morning News, the Rangers haven’t yet made up for the offense they lost when Beltran, Ian Desmond and Mitch Moreland all departed. As Richard Griffin wrote in the Toronto Star, the Blue Jays don’t have a real replacement for Encarnacion or Jose Bautista.

If the Encarnacion market really is cratering, Griffin wrote, “the Jays should do everything in their power to make it happen.”

After all, when this winter began, plenty of us saw Edwin Encarnacion as a potential difference-maker. No matter what may have changed about his market, nothing has changed about the impact he could make on whichever team lands him.        

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

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After signing a free-agent deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, outfielder Dexter Fowler commented on the decision during his introductory press conference Friday. 

Fowler left the Chicago Cubs for the rival Cards, and according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, he inked a five-year, $82.5 million contract.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted a photo of Fowler in his new threads and noted why his number choice is significant:

While the Cubs seem poised to compete for championships on an annual basis for many years to come, Fowler believes the Cardinals will be in the mix as well, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune: “I can’t tell what the future has in line, but I feel this team has a chance to win the World Series. … Winning is addicting.”

The Cardinals finished 17 games behind the Cubs last season and missed the playoffs, but Fowler suggested the two teams are closer than the numbers indicate, per Gonzales: “(The Cardinals) weren’t that far away (in terms of competing with Cubs). We’re definitely close.”

Fowler nearly left the Cubs last offseason to sign with the Baltimore Orioles but changed his mind and returned to the Windy City in a move that helped him earn a championship ring.

The 2017 season will see Fowler go up against his former team, however, and he’ll do it often since they play in the same division.

Now that the 2016 All-Star has crossed enemy lines, he admitted that it will be a strange feeling when he goes up against the Cubbies, per Gonzales: “It will be weird, but I guess they’re our rivals now. They’re still my boys, but we’re out here to win.”

The 30-year-old veteran hit .276 with 13 home runs, 48 RBI, 84 runs scored and 13 stolen bases, but the Cubs would have been hard-pressed to retain him because of how much they paid Jason Heyward last offseason.

Since he may not have gotten fair market value from the Cubs, he trusted his instincts by joining the Cardinals, per Gonzales: “At the end of the day, you go with your gut feeling, and this was my gut feeling.”

Prior to missing the playoffs last season, the Cards had made five consecutive trips to the playoffs, including two World Series appearances and one championship.

St. Louis seemingly has an abundance of strong pitching with some question marks offensively, but Fowler’s near-.400 on-base percentage from 2016 should help significantly.

Fowler was undoubtedly a catalyst for Chicago’s offense next season, and the jump-start he provides could be enough to get the Cards back in the postseason in 2017.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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The 2016 Winter Meetings are over, but the offseason action is still getting started.

While it is easier to complete deals when everyone is in the same location, not a single team is settled heading into the 2017 season. Everyone is going to be looking for upgrades, either through trades or free agency, to help improve the roster before pitchers and catchers report.

Here are some of the latest rumors surrounding trades that could still go down in the coming days or weeks.

Nationals Still Looking for a Closer

The Washington Nationals made a splash at the winter meetings with the addition of Adam Eaton in exchange for some of their best prospects, via ESPN.

However, the team still needs a closer after losing Mark Melancon to free agency and missing out on bidding wars for Wade Davis and Aroldis Chapman. Undoubtedly, the front office will keep looking for more options to solidify the back of the bullpen.

Mark Zuckerman of MASN reported in addition to targeting free agent Kenley Jansen, there is trade interest in both David Robertson and Alex Colome.

Colome is coming off by far his best season, finishing with a 1.91 ERA and 37 saves for the Tampa Bay Rays. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports provided his thoughts on the potential deal:

Acquiring Robertson would likely be cheaper in terms of prospects. While he has been an effective closer in each of the past three years, he only has a 3.44 ERA in two seasons with the Chicago White Sox.

It would also be an interesting situation between two teams that already completed a trade for Eaton this week. As Bob Nightengale of USA Today noted, the Nationals tried to pair Robertson in the same deal, but the White Sox chose to make it a separate transaction.

Considering how much Washington had to give up for Eaton, including top prospect Lucas Giolito, the team might want to hold off on sending more young players to the same organization.

Still, the Nationals will need a closer in order to compete with the best teams in the National League and won’t be shy about getting one. 

Padres Need a Shortstop

Luis Sardinas finished the year as the starting shortstop for the San Diego Padres and played well, but the organization isn’t ready to commit to him being the full-time option going forward.

General manager A.J. Preller provided his thoughts on the 23-year-old, per A.J. Cassavell of MLB.com:

Sardinas showed, in a brief stint, that he has the capability to be a solid Major League player. There are some things he needs to work on, some areas he needs to improve with. I don’t think he showed us he’s going to be a lockdown guy there for the next three years. But he showed he has a chance to compete for that job.

This basically means the team will add someone else before the start of the year. Considering the lack of quality options in free agency, it appears the squad will have to look for a trade to find any upgrade.

Cassavell noted the recent activity to accomplish this goal:

Both Jose Iglesias and Hanser Alberto are defensive-minded shortstops who would greatly improve the infield in San Diego.

The Tigers have confirmed interest in Iglesias, per Jason Beck of MLB.com. While consistency has been an issue, he still hits well enough to help any lineup, including a .300 season in 2015 when he was named an All-Star.

On the other hand, Alberto would be mostly projection after hitting just .194 with two walks in 162 career plate appearances. He still has a lot of upside, though, giving San Diego a potential cornerstone on a rebuilding team.

Per T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, the Rangers could be interested in Travis Jankowski in a potential deal. While the center fielder has shown potential, he is also expendable due to a logjam in the outfield.

If the Padres are willing to part with him or another quality player, they could find a deal they are looking for.

Mets Trying to Dump Jay Bruce

As most teams are looking for upgrades at certain positions, the New York Mets are doing whatever they can to get rid of their slugger.

After re-signing Yoenis Cespedes on a four-year deal, the team now has too many corner outfielders with Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto all likely to compete for playing time in right field.

This leaves Bruce as the likely odd man out after a miserable second half of the season with the team. The left-handed hitter began 2016 with 25 home runs and 80 RBI in 97 games for the Cincinnati Reds, but he struggled mightily after being dealt to the Mets before the deadline.

He hit just .219 in New York over the final two months while his OPS dropped from .875 to .685.

Sullivan reported interest from the Rangers in a potential deal for Bruce:

Mike Puma of the New York Post also added the Toronto Blue Jays as a potential suitor along with Texas, although they are “showing minimal interest, according to source.”

The fact is Bruce is still likely to be traded, even if the Mets need to reduce their offer. They picked up his $13 million option as a hedge in case Cespedes left town, but now they are on the hook for that money for a player who doesn’t fit into the lineup.

Considering Bruce hit 33 home runs last season—the fourth time in six seasons he hit 30 home runs—there should still be plenty of demand before the start of 2017. If the Mets are patient, they will eventually find a trade partner.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter.

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Major League Baseball’s hot stove was white-hot this week with winter meetings sparking a flurry of franchise-changing deals.

The Chicago White Sox were at the center of it all, dealing starting pitcher Chris Sale and outfielder Adam Eaton in trades that altered the dynamic of each of the franchises involved.

It all gave us a new set of questions to answer concerning the 2017 season and beyond. Who are contenders? Who are pretenders? Which teams were able to secure their futures?

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It wouldn’t be a proper day after the winter meetings without discussion of all the big deals.

The four days of hot-stove action at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, didn’t disappoint. Among the things that happened were trades involving an elite starting pitcher, a star outfielder and a star closer, along with signings of some of the best players on the free-agent market.

We’re going to round up the big moves and grade them based on how the price paid matches up with the quality of the player (or players) involved, as well as how the new additions fit with their new teams.

We’ll go in chronological order, starting now.

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The 2016 MLB winter meetings yanked multiple big-ticket free agents and trade targets off the board.

Ace lefty Chris Sale jumped from the Chicago White Sox to the Boston Red Sox. Mark Melancon shattered the record for a relief-pitcher contract, then Aroldis Chapman shattered it again—and so on. 

That’s the allure of the annual December confab. It invariably alters the offseason landscape.

Plenty of intriguing, game-changing names remain unsigned or untraded, though. The hot stove will keep crackling until the first spring thaw.

With that in mind, let’s re-rank the top 15 remaining trade and free-agent prizes, taking into consideration age, skill set, track record, position, price tag and/or contract status.

We’re also only considering trade candidates who have been featured in recent credible rumors, so some guys (like, say, Justin Verlander) didn’t make the cut.

Tap the clay off your cleats and proceed when ready.

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Outfielder Dexter Fowler agreed to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, as first reported by USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale.

The deal is for five years and $82.5 million, including a full no-trade clause, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports on Friday. 

Frank Cusumano of KSDK Sports in St. Louis reported a physical is scheduled for Friday.

Fowler, 30, was a crucial member of the Chicago Cubs as they won their first World Series title since 1908, hitting .276 with 13 home runs, 48 RBI, 84 runs and 13 stolen bases in 125 regular-season games. He was solid in the postseason as well, hitting .250 with three home runs, six RBI, 11 runs and a stolen base in 17 games.

But the Cubs are loaded in the outfield, with Kyle Schwarber, Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist and Albert Almora Jr. available. Heyward and Almora are capable of manning center field duties, so re-signing Fowler was never likely to be a priority for the reigning champions.

That allowed St. Louis to snag Fowler, who should not only improve the team’s defense but also provide consistent production toward the top of the lineup. Additionally, his postseason experience will be valued in the clubhouse.

Fowler was a key ingredient in the Cubs’ title-winning season. Now, the Cardinals will be hoping he’s the addition that puts them over the top as they seek another championship themselves.

One of the primary areas of need for the Cardinals was an upgrade in center field, so Fowler will check off that box. Fowler’s signing should also fan the flames of the team’s heated rivalry with the Cubs, and his addition makes the Cardinals a threat in the NL Central.

Fowler’s signing won’t be as flashy as some of the other names out there, but he was exactly what the Cardinals needed this offseason.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have the unenviable task of catching up to the Chicago Cubs. It’s a mission that will take all their cunning.

Their latest idea: deny the enemy and enrich themselves in one fell swoop.

It’s not officially official, but the news circulating Thursday night is that Dexter Fowler is defecting from the Cubs to the Cardinals. Bob Nightengale of USA Today was on it first:

According to Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball, Fowler’s deal with St. Louis will be for five years and at least $16 million per season. The Cardinals would also lose the No. 19 pick in the 2017 draft.

Nonetheless, a quality center fielder may be about to earn less money than Aroldis Chapman, a one-inning relief pitcher who’s in line to get $86 million over five years from the New York Yankees. Simply on those grounds, let’s call this a win for the Cardinals. Good job, guys.

But that’s not the only reason for them to be giddy. Per Nightengale, Fowler has been the club’s top target since the summer. Manager Mike Matheny has made no secret of that, going so far as to compare Fowler to Cardinals All-Star Matt Carpenter.

“The more players that you can have like that, I think the better off you’re going to be,” the skipper told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

There’s more reason to like Fowler now than ever before. The 30-year-old is coming off one of his best seasons. He finished 2016 with an .840 OPS underscored by a .393 on-base percentage. He also played against type by rating well defensively.

With Fowler’s age-31 season due up in 2017, there’s a natural concern about how well he’ll age in the life of a five-year contract. But in his case, there are reasons to believe he’ll be fine.

Although Fowler’s still an excellent athlete, his offensive production stems mainly from his head. He has an outstanding approach and an excellent batting eye.

That not only affords him plenty of OBP-boosting walks but ensures that most of his swings are taken at pitches he can hit well. Even if he tops out around 15 home runs per season, this is how he keeps his overall power production above league average.

Meanwhile, Fowler’s defensive improvement in 2016 had nothing to do with a random mid-career surge of athleticism. It traced back to a simple positioning adjustment.

“I was getting crushed with the defense,” Fowler told Paul Skrbina of the Chicago Tribune in October. “They said I was a bad outfielder. I kind of took offense to that. So I just moved back a few steps.”

Assuming Fowler takes this adjustment to St. Louis, he stands to improve a center field spot that finished 24th in ultimate zone rating in 2016. The Cardinals’ entire defense would benefit from that, which would satisfy one of the goals they had for their offseason.

“It certainly was a year of inconsistencies,” general manager John Mozeliak said in October, per Ben Frederickson of the Post-Dispatch. “You think back to some of our defensive struggles, which put a lot of stress on our rotation and then led to some inconsistencies with the rotation.”

On the other side of the ball, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney’s projection for the new Cardinals lineup looks about right:

Fowler can’t do much to upgrade a leadoff spot that, mainly thanks to Carpenter, posted a .368 OBP and .848 OPS in 2016.

But allowing Carpenter to move into the middle of the batting order should have the desired effect there. Only five teams got a lower OPS from their Nos. 3 through 6 hitters than the Cardinals in 2016. With an .877 OPS and 49 home runs over the last two seasons, Carpenter should fix that.

Bottom line: The Cardinals will be better after signing one of the top players on the market than they were before. How ’bout that, huh? Amazing.

Now, as good as the Cubs? Not quite yet.

The Cubs won 17 more games (and that other thing) than the Cardinals in 2016, so they started the winter in a better place by default.

And although they’ve lost Fowler, Albert Almora Jr. will probably play better defense in center while a healthy Kyle Schwarber picks up Fowler’s offensive slack. The Cubs also filled their vacant closer role with Wade Davis, who is very, very good.

The early projections for 2017 peg the Cubs to once again be the team to beat not just in the NL Central but in the entire league. Per FanGraphs, their projection of 95 wins is the highest of any club.

But with a projection of 84 wins even before Fowler is factored into the mix, the Cardinals do have one thing going for them: They’re the team in the NL Central with the best shot of taking down the Cubs.

Two of the clubs in the division, the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds, are so far out of the picture that we might as well be assessing their chances of winning the NFC North. The Pittsburgh Pirates have good individual parts but an incomplete whole and limited resources for fixing it.

With only the (shockingly expensive) Brett Cecil signing going for them before Thursday, the Cardinals were more in a boat with the Pirates than paddling toward the Cubs. With Fowler now set to give them a boost in more ways than one, their odds of overtaking the Cubs are somewhere below laughable.

Faint praise? Sort of. But you never know. Maybe the Cardinals aren’t supposed to topple the Cubs, but Frodo wasn’t supposed to get the One Ring to Mt. Doom either. Nor was Luke Skywalker supposed to destroy the Death Star.

Sometimes all you can do is give it a shot. The Cardinals are now ready to take theirs.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. 

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The party in National Harbor, Maryland, is over. Major League Baseball’s winter meetings have come and gone, leaving us to pick up the pieces.

Tell you one thing: It’s not hard to see who made out well and who didn’t.

Let’s get into that by looking at the six winners and four losers of the winter meetings. They’re a nice balance of teams and individual players who are walking away from Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center with either smiles or scowls.

We’ll go in no particular order, but we’ll start by assessing by far the biggest move of the week…

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