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The 2013 MLB offseason has been full of blockbuster signings and surprise moves, but the trade rumors have continued to fly over the last several weeks.

With huge names like Tampa Bay’s David Price, Boston’s Jake Peavy and Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins reportedly on the market, the rumor mill has become a major topic of conversation.

Here are the biggest rumors circulating after the conclusion of the winter meetings.

David Price Still a Trade Target?

The Tampa Bay Rays had been reportedly talking about moving starting pitcher David Price for the right return, but the rumors have died down over the last month. Once the winter meetings began, so did the inquiries.

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, the activity surrounding Price has picked up:

Despite the silence, sources said the trade market remains active, with a number of teams having approached Tampa Bay with pitches for Price at the winter meetings but none having found the proper assortment of talent to pry away the former Cy Young winner.

Price is still under contract with Tampa Bay and the franchise controls his fate, but the team has shown in the past with players like outfielder Carl Crawford that it will let big names walk via free agency.

Instead of getting little in return, the Rays are better off trying to deal him at the trade deadline and find a team desperate to make the postseason that is willing to overpay. The possible deal may have weighed heavily on Price as he didn’t live up to expectations in 2013.

Price’s agent Bo McKinnis spoke about how his client is dealing with the rumors, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times:

We really don’t know any more than everybody else. David has made it clear many times how much he likes playing for the Rays. At this point we’re reading the same reports and watching and waiting to see what happens.

There is still immense value to a 28-year-old starter with as much experience and consistency as Price, but his down performance last season would not fetch Tampa Bay its asking price. The franchise must let the veteran start the season with the Rays to prove his elite status and move him to the highest bidder before the deadline.

Boston Red Sox Looking to Make a Deal?

The Boston Red Sox are coming off a World Series victory, but the team finds itself with an abundance of starting pitchers. That’s a good problem to have.

Per a report from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the franchise could be looking to deal one of the high-priced veterans it acquired in order to win last year’s championship:

A trade remains possible — the Red Sox are checking in with teams that need starters, sources say. Righties Jake Peavy and Ryan Dempster appear the most expendable, but the Sox could get a bigger return if they moved righty John Lackey or lefty Felix Doubront.

The key in the trade to acquire Peavy was star prospect Jose Iglesias. The Red Sox may be looking to deal one or both of these veteran pitchers, but what the team would get in return is up for debate.

Boston won’t get back a prospect as valuable as Iglesias, though.

Several teams across MLB need legitimate help in the back end of their rotation, but how much a franchise on the cusp of contending would be willing to part with to acquire a 32-year-old pitcher remains to be seen.

Philadelphia Still Shopping Jimmy Rollins?

The Philadelphia Phillies have made several offseason moves, but the biggest could be yet to come. According to a report from Buster Olney of ESPN, the team is looking at one of the longest tenured players on the roster, shortstop Jimmy Rollins:

Rollins hit for a disappointing.252 batting average in 2013 and only amassed six home runs, 39 RBI and 65 runs. At 35 years old, the steady decline in production since winning the MVP award in 2007 is obvious.

There will undoubtedly be a team looking for help in the middle infield that will consider Rollins at shortstop. His leadership abilities and his big-game experience are unquestionable, but Philadelphia shouldn’t expect a huge return in a trade if the team finds a partner.

*All stats via MLB.com.

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It has been a wild offseason for the Boston Red Sox following their 2013 World Series title.

Boston has already endured a slew of transactions that have taken place since the team walked off with the World Series trophy.

Gone from the mix are players like outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to the Yankees and Marlins, respectively.

The Red Sox have welcomed in players like catcher A.J. Pierzynski and relievers Burke Badenhop and Edward Mujica.  Boston also made sure to bring back first baseman Mike Napoli.

On paper, it would appear as if the Red Sox are poised to defend their team with a solid core of talent along with some young prospects like Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts.

In addition, the pitching—in the rotation and in the bullpen—is both talented and deep.  That alone makes the Red Sox formidable in 2014.

Yet Boston still has a few critical questions that remained unanswered. 

General manager Ben Cherington has had a relatively quiet offseason in comparison to some of the other deals made around the league.  Can the Red Sox expect much more this offseason?

Only time will tell.

Still, let us evaluate some of the key questions that Boston needs to evaluate between now and spring training.

Determining the Leadoff Hitter

The loss of Ellsbury hurts the Red Sox in a number of ways. 

Aside from Boston being forced to see its former center fielder in uniform with their chief rival, the team now has to consider the absence of production from the leadoff position.

Ellsbury owns a career .350 on-base percentage and batted .298 in 2013.  He also bolstered those numbers with a league-leading 52 stolen bases in the same season.

Those numbers are going to be difficult to replicate.

Nick O’Malley of Masslive.com sums up why replacing Ellsbury with a bona fide leadoff hitter remains one of Boston’s top priorities this offseason.  He writes, “The Red Sox have some in-house candidates to take up the full-time leadoff role.  Yet, there’s been little indication that the team is comfortable with any of them handling the duty as the primary option.”

He goes on to state that Bradley, Shane Victorino, Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia are the most likely candidates on the roster to fill this void.

Out of that foursome, either Victorino or Nava appear to be the front-runners to take over the job—something that has been confirmed by Red Sox manager John Farrell, per Rob Bradford of WEEI:

Ideally, Boston would like to have Pedroia‘s bat further down in the lineup and also wait and see if Bradley can develop in what could be his first full season as an everyday player.

Cherington described Bradley’s chances to assume the role, via O’Malley:

Yeah, I mean, [Bradley’s] gotten on base his whole life—college and minor leagues, obviously, at a very high rate.  So, that’s what we see as the No. 1 criteria.  We expect that in time he’ll be a good on-base big leaguer and that would make him a candidate to do that.  But I think, you know, when we’re thinking about lineups in the offseason anyway, we’re focused on guys that we know will be on the team and have some history of getting on base in the big leagues.  I think that’s how John feels.

Unless a major move is made between now and the start of the season, Boston looks as if it will employ either Victorino or Nava in the leadoff role and hope for the best. 

Setting the table in front of the heart of the Red Sox’s big hitters—David Ortiz and Napoli—was a critical component to the team’s success in 2013.

Expect no difference this upcoming season.

Determining a Starting Center Fielder

Directly related to the aforementioned question, the Red Sox still have a looming concern in Ellsbury‘s wake.

Pending changes, it appears as if Boston will stick with Bradley in center and bank on him earning that everyday role.  The only question is whether or not he is ready for this challenge.

Bradley hit only .189 with a .280 on-base percentage in limited action last season. 

If the Red Sox plan on utilizing Bradley in this situation, he will have to post up numbers better than that.

This is further described by Ron Chimelis of Masslive.com, who writes:

Trusting Bradley to replace Ellsbury is the only part of the plan that makes me edgy, even though there is every reason to think he will turn into a quality major leaguer someday soon. … Mature for his age, he does not turn 24 until April.  Is he really ready to replace Ellsbury?  Defensively, there is no problem.  Bradley might actually be an upgrade because of his better arm.

Chimelis also notes that Boston has faith in Bradley becoming a great player.  The only question is whether or not that will happen next year.

There remains a possibility that the Red Sox acquire another outfielder—preferably one with a big bat that can help protect the middle of Boston’s lineup.

While the hype that surrounded a possible trade for Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp appears to have died down, there are other options.

Shin-Soo Choo remains an option, and the Red Sox have taken a serious look, but there has not been a lot of speculation that Boston is close to making him an offer, per NESN:

Barring any significant acquisition, it appears as if the Red Sox are comfortable with Bradley taking over the job.

Hopefully for his own sake, he will showcase his major league capability in 2014, which will make all the questions surrounding his readiness seem foolish.

What to Do with Stephen Drew?

Out of all the questions Boston has to answer this offseason, the curious case of Stephen Drew is, perhaps, the least critical.

In a way, the Red Sox are in a prime position regarding how they want to handle the now-free-agent shortstop. 

A compensatory first-round pick is associated with Drew if he signs elsewhere—given how Boston offered him a qualifying deal earlier this offseason. 

That has certainly discouraged some interest around the league and Drew remains a free agent.

Drew and the Red Sox continue to look for a deal, and Farrell has reiterated that he would like Drew to return, via Ricky Doyle of NESN.com:

“Both sides would like to see this come together,” Farrell said on WEEI’s Hot Stove Show (via Doyle). “But at the same time, as we all know, he’s looking to see what best opportunities would be out there for him.”

Yet if Drew does depart via free agency, Boston is perfectly capable of supplanting the void with Bogaerts at shortstop while giving Will Middlebrooks a chance to hold down third base in a starting role.

The team also traded for utility infielder Jonathan Herrera on Dec. 18. 

This unique situation is a good one to be in from the Red Sox’s vantage point.  They can afford to be diligent and see how Drew’s market shapes out. 

If they re-sign him, fine.  If not, the team is perfectly comfortable moving forward.

There is little wrong with that.

It is easy to be frustrated with a team that made relatively few splashy moves in the wake of what has been a wild offseason thus far.

Cherington and the Red Sox have not been actively involved in many of the bigger deals made in recent weeks—much to the chagrin of writers like Christopher L. Gasper The Boston Globe.

Gasper writes that Boston is doing too little this offseason and criticizes the hopes the Red Sox have in the formula that worked so well for them in the 2013 season—staying away from long-term deals and signing middle-class free agents.

He writes, “They may have reinvented themselves, but they didn’t reinvent the wheel.”

While no one would initially complain about a blockbuster deal that could still potentially be made, this Red Sox team is still in good shape.

The pitching, ever so important, remains intact.  Aside from a few questions which have been discussed, the batting order is sound.

Even if Boston’s “wheel” was not reinvented, there are few reasons to assume it will not continue to roll forward.

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

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

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If the Hot Stove is your thing, it’s been a fun offseason. Many of the premium free agents are off the board now, but the good news is several still remain. As you’ll see in this piece, there’s still a few big trade pieces who could further shake things up.

Matt Kemp, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

A potential trade of Matt Kemp is a game changer for obvious reasons. Chiefly, he’s really good when healthy. Kemp was worth an 8.4 WAR when he was runner-up for the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 2011, according to Fangraphs. That could be the difference between going home or reaching the postseason for a lot of teams.

As well, unloading Kemp would free the Dodgers of his $20-plus million average annual salary over the next six years. They’ll probably have to eat some of it, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, but dealing Kemp would still save them a lot of money that they could then spend elsewhere.

The possibilities for that are endless—hey, this is the Dodgers after all. But they’ll need all of it and then some to hammer out extensions for Hanley Ramirez and Clayton Kershaw, worthy undertakings considering those moves will keep them atop the NL West for the next couple of years.

I think the Seattle Mariners should have moved on Kemp yesterday. It’s risky, yes, but the Robinson Cano contract wasn’t exactly the move of a risk-averse team. They still need to get better for the Cano deal to make sense; acquiring Kemp would be one way to do that.

David Price, SP, Tampa Bay Rays

David Price said he’s preparing himself to be traded, as Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune reported in October. Would you blame him if it were wishful thinking? He’s not going to get on with his life/career with the Tampa Bay Rays, as we know they cannot afford to sign him to a long-term deal.

Any team would be glad to have Price. He’s a hard-throwing ace in the prime of his career and a lefty to boot. There’s not many of them for sale these days, as they tend to get locked into long-term contracts—except the ones on the Rays.

Price’s departure from Tampa would be a stark reminder that the system is unfair, but it would also be yet another opportunity for the Rays to remind everyone of how smart they are.

They’ll end up with a nice haul of prospects, because that’s what they always seem to do. The team that acquires Price will get two years of a Cy Young Award-winner at cost-controlled salaries. That’s super valuable.

On the field, the Rays would take at least a small step back without Price. I’m not sure that’s a given considering how adept they are at developing players, but I also doubt they have a four- or five-win pitcher just waiting in the wings to backfill the rotation spot.

They might still be an 88-win team without Price, though, which is pretty astonishing if you think about it.

Brett Gardner, OF, New York Yankees

On Sunday, Yankees president Randy Levine said the team has “absolutely no intention” of trading Brett Gardner, according to ESPNNewYork.com. I’m not buying it.

Gardner is a good, cheap center fielder entering his walk year, a valuable commodity. It’s fair to wonder whether he’s available now that the Yankees have signed Jacoby Ellsbury, but apparently, that’s not the case, as Levine tells it. Instead, the Yanks plan to have Gardner in left, alongside Ellsbury.

Maybe that really is the Yankees’ plan, or maybe, it’s just a negotiating ploy, but they still have a lot of holes to fill on their roster. In no particular order, they need a starter or two, a couple of relievers, perhaps a second baseman and maybe a third baseman.

Can they get all of that in free agency?

Gardy can slide into left, combining with Ellsbury to give the Yanks a great defensive outfield and more speed in their lineup. Or, Gardner could be trade bait, because I’m sure teams are interested in him now or would be if he were made available.

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If we learned anything from last year’s MLB offseason, it’s that blockbuster trades are more likely to happen when previously untouchable prospects are made available.

By this time last year, the Royals had already dealt Wil Myers and three other prospects to the Rays in exchange for right-handers James Shields and Wade Davis.

Similarly, the Blue Jays’ last-minute decision to include top prospects Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard in the trade for R.A. Dickey ultimately brought the deal together.

For the most part, teams have held true to their words this offseason regarding the availability of top prospects. However, that could change in a hurry as the remaining big-name free agents come off the board.

Here’s a look at four untouchable prospects who could command a huge return for their teams in a trade if made available.

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Trades went down left and right last week during Major League Baseball’s annual winter meetings.

Unfortunately, none of those deals involved notable prospects.

Well, that changed on Monday when the Chicago White Sox acquired third baseman Matt Davidson from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for closer Addison Reed.

In short, landing the 22-year-old Davidson is a huge victory for the White Sox, who haven’t received consistent production from a third baseman since Joe Crede a half decade ago. If he continues to develop as expected, Davidson should be an everyday regular at the position with 20- to 25-home run potential and a solid on-base percentage. 

Reed is a proven closer with 69 saves over the last two seasons. However, with a 4.17 career ERA (103 ERA+) and 0.9 HR/9 (home runs per nine innings), he doesn’t rank among the game’s best in the role.

While a few smaller prospect trades should transpire before the end of the offseason, it’s doubtful that any top-ranked prospects will be moved unless there’s a blockbuster trade involving a star-caliber player.

So here’s a look at five different prospects-for-star trade scenarios that would make sense for both teams.

*All contract information courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

*All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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The very thought of trading Craig Kimbrel can’t help but rile up Atlanta Braves fans.

Although it’s not necessarily even an actual rumor, the concept of trading baseball’s best closer—as suggested recently by Buster Olney of ESPN (subscription required) merely as speculation—is just the kind of proposition that is, in a word, divisive.

Olney writes:

The Tampa Bay Rays have been collecting information this week in their trade conversations about starter David Price, because eventually they will have to trade him. They drafted Price, they developed Price, they love Price, and he is a team leader, but they will move him because of a simple math equation: He will soon make too much money for them to afford. 

If they trade him this offseason, they will get strong value in return. If they wait, their trade return — as well as their payroll flexibility in 2014 — will be diminished, because Price is moving closer to the time he can become a free agent, after the 2015 season. 

The Atlanta Braves should be taking notes on all this, because they have a player who fits this description and these circumstances. Someone they drafted and developed, someone they love, a team leader — and someone who is soon going to be too expensive for their relatively modest payroll: Craig Kimbrel, the best closer on the planet. 

They should be looking to trade him, and right now might be the best possible time. 

So take a borderline unhittable 25-year-old closer with a whopping 138 saves the past three seasons and an ERA of 1.39, a WHIP of 0.90 and a strikeout rate of 15.1 for his career…and make him available?

To be clear, this is simply a possible scenario that the Braves could—and maybe, just maybe, should—consider. For a few reasons.

Take, for example, Kimbrel’s salary, which is about to skyrocket from $655,000 in 2013 to a projection somewhere in the range of $7-$8 million for 2014—that’s a tenfold increase—now that he’s eligible for his first go at arbitration.

(That projection, by the way, comes from Matt Swartz at MLB Trade Rumors, who essentially admitted that Kimbrel’s performance and statistics over the first three full years of his career more or less broke the model for calculating his salary. In Swartz’s own words: “It is our suspicion that he will land much closer to the $7.25MM we have projected for him than the high number the model produced, which I might as well confess was actually $10.2MM.”)

Consider also that Kimbrel’s salary will only escalate from there until he hits free agency after the 2016 season, and the Braves—who have maintained a payroll in the $90 million range the past five years—aren’t exactly the kind of franchise that can easily afford to spend $12-15 million a year on a closer. Not when they have a handful of other young stars, like Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman, Mike Minor, Andrelton Simmons and Julio Teheran, who also will need to be paid soon enough.

Essentially, the Braves “problem” here is that Kimbrel actually has been too good too soon, if that makes sense.

And then there’s the basic fact that a reliever, even the best one in the entire sport like Kimbrel, just does not have a chance to make a dynamic overall impact on any one game when he throws 15-20 pitches at a time—let alone over a full season when he throws 70 innings a year.

Remember, it was a little more than two months ago that the Braves completed a season-long domination of the NL East by clinching the No. 2 spot in the National League playoffs. And remember, in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, manager Fredi Gonzalez chose not to use Kimbrel in a key spot of Game 4—with the Braves up 3-2 but trailing two games to one—in part because it was only the bottom of the eighth inning. And you remember how that turned out, right?

With David Carpenter, a lesser arm, surrendering the series-winning home run to Juan Uribe before Kimbrel even got a chance to step on the mound. In all, Kimbrel made just one appearance in those four games, throwing only 25 pitches against all of five batters to register four outs.

For a team that hasn’t won a single series in October since 2001, perhaps the idea of trading Kimbrel for players who can have a bigger impact isn’t such a terrible idea.

On that topic, then, even though the Braves are a well-constructed team with an extremely productive and promising young core, they still have areas that could be upgraded or addressed, primarily second base, catcher, center field and the rotation. And since Atlanta already has right-hander Jordan Walden, who has closed in the past, he would be at least a serviceable replacement.

Finding potential trade partners isn’t easy. The Braves, after all, are contenders, as are most clubs that might inquire about the luxury provided by a top-notch ninth-inning arm like Kimbrel. It’s often a challenge to match up contender-contender trades, because both parties are playing for the immediate future rather than the long term.

That doesn’t mean, though, there aren’t possible fits out there. With that in mind, let’s see if we can do the impossible and come up with a few landing spots and trade packages that actually might get the Braves—and their fans—to at least consider the concept of trading Kimbrel.

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It’s time to put your general manager hat on and make a very important decision. Your team is in position to add one impact player prior to the 2014 season. You can either trade for Tampa Bay Rays ace David Price or sign free-agent outfielder Shin-Soo Choo. Which would be the better choice?

Before you make your pick, here’s a closer look at each player, what it would take to acquire them and the potential impact they’d have on your ballclub. 

Shin Soo-Choo

The 31-year-old Choo, who posted an .885 OPS with 21 homers and 20 stolen bases for the Cincinnati Reds last season, is reportedly seeking a seven-year, $140 million contract, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports tweeted that the general belief is that whichever team goes to eight years will ultimately land him.

One of the best all-around players in the game—he is considered to be a plus-defender in a corner outfield spot and one of the best in the game at getting on base, to go along with a strong combination of speed and power—the left-handed hitting Choo is capable of hitting anywhere in the lineup and playing anywhere in the outfield. He led off and played center field for the Reds in 2013, although he might fit best in right field while hitting second or third in the lineup. 

It’s not out of the question for a player to remain healthy and productive through his ages 37-38 seasons, but the likelihood isn’t very strong. In giving Choo seven or eight years and somewhere between $140-$160 million, a team should be satisfied with three to five great seasons, a couple of so-so seasons and at least one bad one. 

That might sound like a terrible value, but that’s what it’ll cost to sign a player of Choo‘s caliber for the last few years of his prime.  

David Price

With a projected 2014 salary of $13.1 million through arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors, and a 2015 salary that will most likely be in the $16-$18 million range in his final year under club control, the financial cost of acquiring David Price is quite affordable for most big league teams.

The necessary package of players it will take to trade for him, however, is not. 

Teams without an elite prospect in their organization need not inquire on the 28-year-old left-hander. For those that do have at least one, realize that a willingness to include that elite prospect in the deal is imperative for the trade talks to go any further than the initial inquiring stage. 

For two years of one of the best starting pitchers in the game—Price has a career record of 71-39 with a 3.19 ERA, 2.6 BB/9, 8.1 K/9 and a 67 percent quality start rate in 973 innings—the Rays are setting their sights high in terms of what they’ll need to receive in order to trade the former Cy Young award winner. 

In last offseason’s deal that sent pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis to the Kansas City Royals, the Rays received one elite prospect (outfielder Wil Myers), a good pitching prospect with a middle-of-the-rotation profile (Jake Odorizzi) and two other minor leaguers with some upside but not a great chance of becoming big league regulars. 

You’ll have to do much better than that to acquire Price. 

What Would You Do? 

Let’s assume that your team has a decent-sized payroll and signing Choo won’t completely handcuff you in your pursuit of other players in the future. But if Choo isn’t productive over the first 2-3 years of the deal, you’ll probably lose your job. 

Now, let’s say that your farm system is deep enough to where you could give up three of your top five prospects, including two that are considered among the top 50 in the game, and still not completely deplete it. But if Price doesn’t help lead your team deep into the playoffs and he walks as a free agent following the 2015 season, while at least one of the players you traded for him is putting up big numbers with his new team, you’ll probably lose your job. 

Now make your pick. What’s the better acquisition? 

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The MLB winter meetings came and went without any big blockbuster signings or trades, but that didn’t put a stop to the baseball rumor mill, which is always churning out new rumblings at this time of year.

From sluggers to starters to closers, there are still a few players who have been mentioned in recent rumors. Given the current state of the MLB offseason, here’s a look at three big leaguers who are most likely to be dealt by the start of spring training.

Brandon Phillips

The talented Cincinnati Reds second baseman has been a big name on the trading block all offseason, with the latest round of rumors connecting him to the Yankees, who reportedly nixed a deal that would have sent outfielder Brett Gardner to the Reds.

According to Mike Axisa of CBS Sports, Phillips and Cincinnati’s front office are at odds over comments the player made about last year’s contract extension.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Reds are still interested in dealing Phillips in order to open up a spot for free-agent second baseman Omar Infante:

So it’s no secret that Phillips is on the trading block. If there’s one thing working against Phillips, it’s that he reportedly wanted to re-open up his contract negotiations, per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. With four years and $50 million remaining, Phillips will be hard-pressed to squeeze any more commitment from any team.

Though a Phillips-Gardner framework didn’t work out for the Yankees and Reds, it doesn’t mean the veteran second baseman can’t still end up in pinstripes as the successor to Robinson Cano. Another possible option is the Los Angeles Dodgers, who could move Hanley Ramirez to third base and Cuban free agent Alexander Guerrero to shortstop.

It will take a lot to make a Phillips deal work, but the Reds are clearly trying to move him.

Ike Davis

New York Mets first baseman Ike Davis has been linked with the Milwaukee Brewers as a potential trade target for weeks, and those rumors are heating up with recent changes to the first-base market.

While Corey Hart left Milwaukee for the Seattle Mariners, free agent James Loney has too big of an asking price, per Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.

As such, Milwaukee’s best bet is to try and acquire Davis, who struggled mightily in 2013 (.205/.326/.334 with nine HRs and 33 RBI), but showed a lot of potential in 2010 (.265/.351/.440, 19 homers, 71 RBI) and 2012 (.227/.308/.462, 32 HRs, 90 RBI).

Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel speculated that the Brewers were involved with both Davis and Loney:

So what’s the potential hold up in the deal? According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Milwaukee isn’t willing to part with a promising young arm in return.

Tyler Thornburg is a 25-year-old righty who posted a 3-1 record, 2.03 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a 6.5 K/9 ratio in 66.2 innings pitched across 18 games (seven starts). For a player as mercurial as Davis, it’s easy to see why the pitching-starved Brewers are reluctant to part with Thornburg.

But there appears to be serious interest here between these two teams, so don’t be surprised if they make something work in the near future.

Jonathan Papelbon

It might be tough for the Philadelphia Phillies to find a trade partner for their veteran closer, but it’s clear that they want to ship him to another team.

According to Buster Olney of ESPN, the Philly front office making a big push to deal Papelbon:

Olney also broke down the terms for Papelbon’s vesting option in 2016, which could push his deal to $39 million over the next three seasons:

With other high-priced vets like Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee, Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz and Chase Utley on the payroll, and other cheaper closer options on the market like Joaquin Benoit and Grant Balfour, it makes sense for the Phillies to try and shed Papelbon’s salary.

But with top closer Joe Nathan signing a two-year, $20 million deal with the Detroit Tigers this offseason, it will be hard to deal a closer who makes $13 million annually. Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reported the club would be willing to throw some cash in to make Papelbon’s contract more palatable, further indicating the team’s desire to trade him away.

Possible teams that could use a closer are the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The MLB winter meetings were lacking in major transactions, but all 30 teams returned home with a better understanding of their roster needs and which players are capable of addressing them.

Rest assured, front office staffs intend to continue exploring free agency and the trade market in preparation for the 2014 season.

There’s still enough time remaining in the offseason to think ambitiously. Multiple teams still have their sights set on Shin-Soo Choo, Masahiro Tanaka, David Price and others with franchise-changing talent.

With two months to go until spring training gets underway, here’s a look at who’s being targeted by each club.

*Stats provided by Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs unless otherwise specified.

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Day two of the winter meeting got off to a bang as the rumored three-team deal between the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Angels came together rather quickly and was a reality by early afternoon.

With one more day before the focus turns to the Rule 5 draft on Thursday, expect at least a few more big free agent signings and/or trades to happen over the next 24-30 hours or so.

Here’s all the latest from the rumor mill.  

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