Kuzul

Plenty of Internet ink is spilled on rating and ranking individual players and teams in baseball, but what about doing the same thing for divisions?

Obviously, the offseason isn’t over, what with some big names still available in free agency (Masahiro Tanaka, Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Garza and Ervin Santana come to mind) and others on the trade market (David Price, Jeff Samardzija and Andre Ethier, to name a few) who can swing things, depending on where they land.

With pitchers and catchers barely more than a month from reporting, though, the most major moves have already been made, and shifts in talent and power have taken place as a result. Plus, it’s a new year to boot, so why not take stock with a snapshot in time by running down the six different divisions—along with some noteworthy names to arrive and depart from each—worst to best?

The purpose here will be to put greater emphasis on the good and less on the bad. In other words, if a division has one or two awful teams at the bottom, that’s not quite so damning if there are two, or even three, strong clubs at the top.

Let’s rank.

Begin Slideshow

With roughly a month to go until the start of spring training, the free-agent market has thinned considerably at this point, but there are still a handful of impact players available and a number of secondary roster pieces as well.

The biggest remaining crop of talent can be found in the starting pitching market, where everyone is seemingly waiting to see where Masahiro Tanaka signs. Once he makes his decision, the likes of Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana will likely find homes shortly after as consolation prizes for the teams that lose out on Tanaka.

We’re edging closer and closer to the season kicking off with each passing day, but for now here is a look at the top remaining free agents and trade targets still available at each position.

*All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, unless otherwise noted.

Begin Slideshow

Get your popcorn ready, folks.

When it comes to the free-agent tour for Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, expect a whirlwind of rumors, news and excitement over the next two weeks. By the end of January, the top pitcher on the market will pick a team, starting a domino effect for the rest of baseball’s available players.

At this point, it’s probably easier to list the teams not interested in Tanaka. With a posting fee of only $20 million—owed only when Tanaka‘s signature is on a free-agent contract—almost any team, in any market, can engage the 25-year-old pitcher in a conversation.

From there, the fun begins.

Earlier this week, Tanaka arrived in the United States, ready and willing to meet with teams. In the interest of time, the right-handed pitcher took a physical exam upon arriving in Los Angeles, with the idea of distributing one medical report to all interested parties, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Assuming that medical report comes up clean, expect the contract offers to roll in quickly.

Here’s a rundown of all the latest rumors and news surrounding Tanaka‘s U.S. recruiting tour. 

Begin Slideshow

It might be a likely assumption that the Boston Red Sox are set with the team they hope to carry into spring training in 2014.

The Red Sox have seen a number of changes from the roster that won them the World Series the year prior—the most notable being the losses of Jacoby Ellsbury and Jarrod Saltalamacchia via free agency.

As quoted from Chad Finn of Boston.com, “All of their essential offseason business is done, other than waiting for Stephen Drew to inform Scott Boras (or is it vice-versa?) where he will play baseball in 2014.” 

Yet general manager Ben Cherington seems poised to defend Boston’s World Series crown with the current team on paper. 

By letting players like Ellsbury go, Boston is putting its faith in the development of young prospects like Jackie Bradley Jr. at the big league level.  The same could be said if Drew departs in regard to prospects like Xander Bogaerts.

Regardless of that faith in this current roster, the Red Sox still need to take some action before the commencement of spring training.  While there is not necessarily much to do, it is imperative that Cherington approaches these situations with prudence so that the benefits can be reaped during the course of the forthcoming season.

Let us take a look at three things that need to happen in Boston.

Backing Out of the Stephen Drew Discussion

There was a time earlier this offseason when the Red Sox were still interested in retaining Drew’s services.

Boston offered Drew a qualifying offer, and he subsequently turned it down.  Since then, Cherington and the Red Sox have been open to Drew returning, albeit on the team’s terms, per Peter Abraham of Boston.com.

Said Cherington via Abraham, ““We like Stephen and the job he did.  Because of that we’ve kept the door open.  We’re going to continue to listen and talk and see where it ends up.”

Since the holidays, Cherington and Drew’s agent Scott Boras have had zero contact with each other, per Ricky Doyle of NESN.

While the lack of action could be an indication that Boston is perfectly content with letting Drew sign elsewhere, it would be nice for Cherington to stand by his young players and reveal the final intention of this team regarding its future direction.

The primary beneficiaries?  Bogaerts and third baseman Will Middlebrooks.

As far as Bogaerts is concerned, there are few reasons to assume he will not be an impact player in the very near future.  His .298 batting average during Boston’s postseason run is a good indication of what type of player he may become.

A similar argument can be made of Middlebrooks.  While Middlebrooks’ 2013 campaign was not particularly awe-inspiring—he batted only .227 with a .696 OPS—one cannot overlook the fact that he was once touted as a high-level prospect within the Red Sox’s organization, especially through 2011 and 2012.

One year removed from his 2012 rookie season—where he hit .288 with a .835 OPS—it is safe to assume Middlebrooks possibly suffered from a “sophomore slump” and deserves at least one more season to prove his capability at the big league level.

If Drew is re-signed, that would likely force Bogaerts and Middlebrooks into a platoon role at third.  Neither would benefit from this scenario, Bogaerts most significantly.

Both are deserving of a full-time role in 2013 and would benefit from the knowledge that their roles would include being everyday infielders.

Thus, Cherington would be best off wishing Drew the best and sticking to what the Red Sox already have moving forward.

Perhaps this is exactly the direction toward which Cherington is heading.

Stay Out of the Masahiro Tanaka Sweepstakes

There is a strong possibility that Japanese star righty Masahiro Tanaka will be the big deal in the majors.

The interest Tanaka has garnered from a plethora of MLB teams speaks to this.  Where he winds up is anyone’s guess, according to Jesse Spector of The Sporting News.

Plenty of factors could inhibit Boston’s legitimate pursuit of Tanaka outside of the $20 million posting fee it would cost to negotiate a contract.

Paul White of USA Today describes why the Red Sox would be interested in the first place:

The champions have to think about any major free agent.  It would overload the already-crowded rotation but that only puts them in position to trade for other upgrades and guard against upcoming contract talks with the current staff.  It’s tough to beat the attraction of the World Series champs in an iconic ballpark with Japanese guys on the staff who are comfortable in the environment.

Herein lie some of the problems.  First, as mentioned by White, Boston’s rotation is already crowded—a total of six venerable starters under contract who will likely be on the roster by Opening Day.

While that does give the Red Sox some flexibility with their rotation, potentially to execute a trade, one has to wonder if this would thwart the chances of locking up contract extensions for starters like Jon Lester, whose contract expires after 2014.

It also could get in the way of some of Boston’s young pitching prospects—further described by Finn here.

Tanaka will likely receive a long-term and lucrative contract, which goes against nearly everything that Cherington has done with the Red Sox in recent years—short-term, more-expensive contracts without long obligations to many players.

Lastly, Tanaka is still an unproven commodity at the big league level.  Unlike minor league prospects who can be slowly worked into a big league role, Tanaka will likely be relied upon immediately rather than being worked into a rotation.

While the Red Sox have talked with Tanaka’s agent, per Doyle, nothing more has transpired.  This leads us to believe that Cherington is doing the proverbial “kicking of the tires” regarding Tanaka’s future landing spot.

Even if Tanaka is the real deal, Boston already has a bona fide lineup with plenty of talent waiting in the folds.

Banking on that should be the Red Sox’s priority here.

Finding an Insurance Policy for Jackie Bradley Jr.

Bradley’s impact at the big league level will likely be the direct result of Boston losing Ellsbury to free agency.

There are two ways to look at this.

If Bradley prospers in his first full season with the Red Sox, any concern over his development will likely be an afterthought.  If he struggles, however, Boston may be forced to deal with any ineptitude that transpires in 2014.

This is not to say Bradley will not amount to a major league talent.  On the contrary—Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus has Bradley ranked as the No. 2 prospect within the Red Sox’s organization.

Yet let us assume for a moment that Bradley emulates the type of hitter he was in a limited 2013 campaign—he had a .189 batting average and .617 OPS in 107 plate appearances.

As Bradley develops, are those numbers that the Red Sox want to count on from a starting center fielder?

Pending some outfield shuffling—which causes its own set of problems—the Red Sox could rely on in-house options like Daniel Nava, Jonny Gomes and Mike Carp to balance out the remainder of the outfield, complementing Shane Victorino.

A better option could be a short-term deal—something that the Red Sox are known for—for an already established center fielder that could provide an upgrade over Bradley in 2014. 

Who this could be, or how Cherington could make it happen, is anyone’s guess, but this option would at least give the Red Sox a chance to work in Bradley at a much more reasonable pace and not risk demolishing his confidence.

Plus, the added competition is always a noteworthy thing come spring training.

In all likelihood, the Red Sox appear all but set with their franchise heading into spring training. 

There are things they should do, things they should not do and certain elements that could use some tweaking.

Yet at the end of the day, Boston is in a strong position to defend their World Series title.  They boast a formidable rotation and bullpen and can rely upon steady defense.  The Red Sox offense is also in good position moving forward.

At any rate, we shall see how these issues pan out over coming weeks and months.  Spring training, after all, is only a short time away.

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com, unless otherwise indicated.  Contractual information courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Peter Panacy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the Boston Red Sox.  Follow him @PeterMcShots on Twitter.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Marlon Byrd, Bartolo Colon, Scott Feldman, Francisco Liriano, Mike Napoli, Hyun-jin Ryu and Koji Uehara all signed free-agent deals last offseason. All seven made the general manager who signed them look like a genius because their performances far exceeded their contracts.

Which free-agent signees from this offseason will be part of the “Biggest Bargains” group for 2014? Here are my top seven picks. 

Begin Slideshow

There are no perfect offseasons, though Boston Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington came pretty close last offseason.

Signing Ryan Dempster (4.57 ERA) to a two-year deal may not have been the best use of $26.5 million of ownership’s money. And acquiring closer Joel Hanrahan backfired as he sustained a season-ending elbow surgery early in the season. Aside from those two moves, though, Cherington’s very busy offseason was nearly flawless. He acquired several players who were integral to the team’s World Series title. 

It’s also rare for a team not to have one bright spot in all of their offseason acquisitions, though the Los Angeles Angels and general manager Jerry Dipoto came dangerously close.

Free-agent acquisitions Joe Blanton, Sean Burnett and Josh Hamilton didn’t pan out in Year 1 of their respective deals—Burnett missed most of the season due to injury; Blanton and Hamilton had unproductive seasons on the field— and Tommy Hanson, whom they acquired in a trade with Atlanta, posted a 5.42 ERA and was non-tendered after the season. 

If not for minor league free agent Dane De La Rosa, who posted a 2.86 ERA in 75 relief appearances, it might qualify as one of the worst offseasons of all time.  

After two busy months of free-agent signings, trades and waiver-wire pickups, it’s time to take a look at each team and decide which was their best and worst move (or non-move).

Begin Slideshow

There have been several free-agent signings thus far that, at least potentially, have a solid chance of becoming great values for their new teams.

The Blue Jays picked up catcher Dioner Navarro for two years and $8 million after he posted a .856 OPS with 13 homers in 89 games last season. Corey Hart signed a contract with Seattle that guarantees him only $6 million. If he bounces back from knee surgery and returns to the player who posted a .830 OPS between 2007 and 2012, the additional $13 million he could earn from incentives will still be a great bargain.

Joe Nathan signed a two-year, $20 million deal to fill a major void in the Tigers bullpen, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s $7 million per season deal with the Marlins after his impressive 2013 campaign could end up looking like a steal compared to Brian McCann’s five-year, $85 million deal with the Yankees. 

Teams still hoping to find a great free-agent value signing aren’t out of options just yet. While it has gotten extremely thin at certain positions, particularly at catcher, second base and third base, I’ve found a potential free-agent value still available for each position.

Begin Slideshow

On the one hand, the moves made by Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane this winter seem out of character for a team that had a payroll of $61.9 million in 2013. The team has spent money to bring in an experienced closer in Jim Johnson and also signed free-agent starter Scott Kazmir.

The $32 million dollars of investment may not sound like a lot when it is compared to the spending of the New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers this winter. But two of those teams reside in the AL West with the A’s and will likely continue to spend this season and next. 

What Oakland has done again is look at the market of players and their potential values.

The Baltimore Orioles viewed Johnson as too expensive an option for a team looking to save money this winter. Johnson is projected by MLB Trade Rumors’ Tim Dierkes to make $10.8 million this season through arbitration and then become a free agent. Johnson was traded to the A’s in a deal reported by Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

Instead of viewing Johnson’s one-year commitment as a negative, Beane has chosen again to view it as a strength. Johnson could be the piece to push the A’s over the top this season or he could be the piece to dangle at the trade deadline and get a huge return.

Oakland will be losing Grant Balfour and they are replacing him with a better pitcher. The cost was only Jemile Weeks, a player who never reached his potential in Oakland after a strong beginning in 2011. 

Selling a closer who has thrived in the tough AL East during his career and would only require a team to pay the remaining $5 million or so on his contract makes Johnson an extremely valuable commodity this summer. Six to eight teams could be in the market for someone like Johnson at the deadline. 

The 30-year-old Johnson is coming off of two seasons of 50-plus saves for the Orioles and should benefit moving into Oakland’s spacious stadium.

Signing Kazmir was first reported by ESPN’s Jim Bowden. The deal allowed the A’s to trade Brett Anderson to the Colorado Rockies in a move that was reported by Fox Sports’ Rosenthal.

Any move done by Oakland is done in conjunction with another move in mind. Anderson was a risk due to his injury history and his remaining $9.5 million salary. Trading Anderson now let Oakland get from underneath the majority of Anderson’s remaining salary, allowing the A’s to spend that money on the more dependable Kazmir. 

Kazmir pitched almost as many innings last season (158) as Anderson has pitched over the past three seasons (163). It is easy to understand why Oakland would want to move Anderson’s contract, especially after having spent $10.25 million over the past three seasons with very little return. Kazmir has had his injury struggles as well, but his fastball velocity seemed to return last season. 

Acquiring Kazmir also means that Oakland might be able to flip him during the the two-year contract, something the A’s always seem to be open to doing if it makes the team better.  

It’s not that Oakland is constantly looking to save money. The A’s are just looking to spend money on players who are more likely to return that investment. It’s how Oakland has managed to stay one step ahead of the MLB landscape. 

*Information used from Cot’s Baseball Contracts/Baseball Prospectus, Tim Dierkes/MLB Trade Rumors, Ken Rosenthal/Fox Sports, Baseball Reference, Jim Bowden/ESPN

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Teams have been busy over the past two months, putting their offseason plans in place and trying to fill as many holes as possible. For many of those teams, however, there are still needs to address, and time is running out before it’s time to report to spring training. 

With the posting process for Japanese star Masahiro Tanaka now underway and expected to come to a conclusion over the next few weeks, there are still four available starting pitchers—Tanaka, Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana—who will be penciled in to the front part of a big league rotation before the start of the season.

Nelson Cruz and Stephen Drew are the lone free-agent hitters who could make an impact on a lineup, while Grant Balfour and Fernando Rodney are the best remaining from what was initially a very deep group of relievers on the free-agent market.

Trades are also a possibility this time of year—the Atlanta Braves acquired Justin Upton last January; the Oakland A’s acquired Jed Lowrie in February. 

A lot can still happen, which is why baseball fans should still be paying attention between now and when actual baseball will be played again. 

Here is an updated look at the remaining “to-do” lists for each of the 30 teams.  

Begin Slideshow

Now that the calendar reads January, we’re closer to the start of 2014 spring training than we are to the final out of the 2013 World Series.

As such, a select few of baseball’s top free agents are still playing the waiting game as they look for work for the new season. Likewise, many well-known players are still on the trading block following a winter rampant with rumors.

But there are still a few weeks before pitchers and catchers report to Arizona and Florida to make moves. The market might be thinning now, but there are still some quality players available for the right price. Here’s an updated look at the top free-agent or trade targets in baseball, broken down by position.

*All statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference.

Begin Slideshow