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Having spent lavishly, both in cash and prospects, to bolster their pitching staffs, teams are finally beginning to turn their attention to the bats that remain available this offseason.

While free-agent outfielders such as Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Gordon and Gerardo Parra have been the subject of increased chatter on the rumor mill, teams are also looking to the trade market as a way to bolster their respective lineups, with an eye on potentially available outfielders as well.

With a handful of teams either already deep into the rebuilding process or just getting things underway, there could be some bargains to be had via trade, especially when you consider the draft pick compensation and high salaries the top available free agents will cost an interested club.

Keep in mind these proposed deals are only ideas and pure speculation. Unless otherwise noted, there’s no indication any of them have actually been discussed.

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Get ready, folks. On Wednesday afternoon, the results of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote for the 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced.

It’s unlikely that the 2016 class of inductees will be as big as last year’s, which saw a whopping four players elected into Cooperstown. But with enough cunning, we can make a fair guess about what is going to happen with the 32 players on the 2016 ballot.

Ahead lies a full set of predictions for what will be announced on 6:00 PM ET on Wednesday afternoon, ranging from which players won’t come close to those who will remain in the mix to the guys slated to get in. But before we get going, a few reminders:

• It takes 75 percent of the vote to be elected into the Hall of Fame, and at least five percent to stay on the ballot.
• In 2014, the Hall of Fame reduced the maximum number of years a player can stay on the ballot from 15 to 10, save for a few holdover exceptions.
• More recently, the Hall of Fame stripped the lifetime voting rights from BBWAA members who are at least 10 years removed from covering baseball.

OK, then. Enough stalling. Let’s get going.

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Yoenis Cespedes, Chris Davis, Alex Gordon and Justin Upton have historically bad luck.

As Joel Sherman of the New York Post sees it, the market for free-agent game-changers has never developed at a slower pace.

“Never has there been this many talented free agents unsigned this late into the offseason.”

While those unfortunate and unemployed stars wait to find out where they’ll be playing in 2016, let’s play a game of offseason musical chairs and predict where everyone will end up when the music stops.

Free-agent hitters dominate the conversation, but there’s also room on the list for a prediction about one trade target who smashed 40 home runs during the season that was.

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Two months have passed since the Kansas City Royals celebrated their first World Series championship in 30 years, yet we sit here on New Year’s Eve with more questions than answers about which team—or teams—are in the best position to take the crown from the defending champs.

While we’ve seen a pair of notable moves go down in recent days—Scott Kazmir became the fifth left-handed starter in the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation, while Aroldis Chapman joined an already filthy New York Yankees bullpen—there are still multiple game-changing players available.

Is one of those game-changers closer to making a decision on where his future home will be? Could one of baseball’s most stubborn veterans be resolved to becoming more flexible in the new year? Will a former All-Star shortstop reinvent himself as the next coming of Ben Zobrist?

We’ll tackle all of that and more in this week’s edition of Fact or Fiction.

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Just when you thought it was safe to take a break from the Hot Stove League, the New York Yankees shocked the baseball universe by sending a four-player package to the Cincinnati Reds for All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman, a player many believed was immovable due to his current off-field issues.

It’s a deal that was seemingly consummated in a matter of hours, if you go by what information the rumor mill provided, but chances are it’s a deal that the two clubs had been working on for a few days, if not longer.

General managers talk to each other all the time about potential moves, and sometimes, months go by before those talks are revisited. We’ll touch on some of those scenarios on the pages that follow, as deals that may have made sense at the trade deadline still do, in some form, heading into 2016.

Keep in mind these proposed deals are only ideas and pure speculation. Unless otherwise noted, there’s no indication any of them has actually been discussed.

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The weather outside may not be winter-like for some, but Christmas typically brings with it a cooling off for the Hot Stove League. This year is no exception, as the rumor mill has gradually slowed to a crawl over the past week as the baseball universe makes its final holiday preparations.

For a day, at least, the business of baseball takes a back seat to the business of family.

But that’s not to say that there’s nothing to talk about, however. Conversations between representatives of free agents and general managers continue, while seemingly never-ending trade talks between clubs rolls along in the form of email and text messages—between sips of egg nog, that is.

Have negotiations between a longtime clubhouse fixture and his former club reached the point of no return? Can a team ever have enough pitching depth? Will one of the rumor mill’s longest tenants finally find his way out of the endless loop of trade speculation?

We’ll tackle all of that and more in this week’s edition of Fact or Fiction.

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Many of the big-ticket free agents in this year’s loaded class of have found new homes before the holiday, but given a dense contingent of 139 free agents total, plenty of outliers remain. 

The pitching market has largely subsided now that blue chips Zack Greinke, David Price and Johnny Cueto have been whisked away with nine-figure deals, and Jason Heyward got the ball rolling among his fellow outfielders. 

There is still plenty of talent out there, as Christopher Kamka of CSNChicago.com noted:

Heyward‘s $184 million deal with the Chicago Cubs reportedly wasn’t his highest offer, which may have more of a ripple effect on where the bar is set among the rest of the outfield market. 

Heyward was considered the top free-agent outfielder this winter, and his deal was expected to set a new bar for his position for players like Chris Davis and Alex Gordon, among others. 

Here is a look at the latest buzz on a few high-profile names that still seek a home. 

White Sox Interested in Alex Gordon

The Chicago White Sox are interested in adding Alex Gordon and swooping him away from the incumbent Kansas City Royals, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. 

While a union would certainly bolster the lineup to complement slugger Jose Abreu and newly acquired third baseman Todd Frazier, the White Sox already house Avisail Garcia and Melky Cabrera in their corner-outfield spots, and have Adam LaRoche at DH. 

Gordon is expected to net a five-year deal worth at least $100 million, per Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, which may be out of the White Sox’s price range, per Rosenthal:

However, Rosenthal indicated that should the White Sox land Gordon, they’d shuffle other personnel in order to make a financial fit:

Gordon was an All-Star in each of the last three seasons and a key cog in the Royals’ pennant runs the past two Octobers as the team’s defensive catalyst. 

By adding multifaceted Gordon, the White Sox would not only bolster their starting lineup, but also pry away one of the primary contributors of a team within their division that by all signs will contend again in 2016. 

Orioles, Chris Davis Continue to Talk After Offer Pulled

Contract negotiations between the Baltimore Orioles and slugging first baseman Chris Davis reached a breaking point when the team pulled a seven-year, $150 million offer earlier this month, according to Buster Olney of ESPN The Magazine. 

Both parties contrast in what they believe is an appropriate offer, though Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reports dialogue remains ongoing between Davis’ agent Scott Boras and Orioles owner Peter Angelos:

Boras‘ claim is that the $22 million yearly figure is about what was paid to Jacoby Ellsbury, exactly what was paid to Hanley Ramirez and less than Jason Heyward got. And none of those players slugs like Davis.

While Orioles people are investigating other possibilities, it seems likely that to this point Angelos hasn’t given the go-ahead to sign someone to truly replace Davis.

However, Olney reported the team is seeking other options, albeit at a different position, to fill Davis’ potential power void in the lineup:

Davis led the majors in home runs two of the last three years but has been a notoriously streaky hitter, best shown by his .196/.300/.404 slash line in 2014 when he played 127 games. 

Because he packs the punch from the plate and today’s market is insanely inflated, Davis will likely land the deal he seeks. 

The Orioles missed out on the playoffs last year after reaching the ALCS the year prior, and while a void at first base may be difficult to endure, they may be better off investing elsewhere. 

Scott Kazmir Reportedly Has Plenty of Options

Now that Greinke, Price and Cueto are gone, Kazmir remains arguably the best starting pitcher on the market. 

Heyman reported Kazmir has multiple three-year offers in the $12-13 million per-year range, and Bob Nightengale of USA Today revealed who those suitors likely are: 

Rosenthal followed up that the Oakland A’s—with whom Kazmir pitched in 2014 and parts of 2015—are out of the mix after signing Henderson Alvarez to a one-year, $4.25 million deal.  

Kazmir still has plenty of options but is likely waiting for the first reasonable four-year offer, per Heyman. 

Kazmir, 31, is entering his 12th season but showed no signs of aging in a year he made 31 starts, threw 183 innings and compiled a 3.10 ERA with the A’s and Houston Astros. 

The Washington Nationals could use another starter to replace Jordan Zimmermann, the Royals are now sans Cueto with Kazmir a more affordable option and the St. Louis Cardinals lost the John Lackey sweepstakes. Kazmir would be a worthy replacement for any of those. 

The Astros don’t plan to simply re-sign Kazmir as trade bait, according to the Houston Chronicle‘s Evan Drellich, and already have a great core around Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh, Mike Fiers and Lance McCullers Jr. Add a healthy Scott Feldman, and they’ll have a remarkable five. 

The Orioles might make the most sense given Wei-Yin Chen is reportedly seeking a five-year, $100 million deal, per Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com, and Baltimore will already be chasing the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays in a competitive AL East. 

Kazmir would be best suited to sign with a team he believes he’ll play a key role and with one that can contend. But he also should net that fourth year as a deserving and established lefty that would bolster the top of just about any rotation. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Enough of this offseason thing. Let’s skip ahead and talk about who Major League Baseball’s big winners are going to be in 2016.

Yes, it’s a little early to be doing this, but not too early. With nearly two months gone by, the MLB offseason is actually closer to spring training than it is to the World Series. There’s still much to be done, but enough has unfolded for us to have a good sense of the 2016 power structure.

Thus, what follows are projections of who the 10 playoff teams would be in 2016 if the offseason ended today. Let’s start with the American League, and then head on into the National League.

American League

AL East Champ: Boston Red Sox

Hey, sometimes a guy has to stick with his guns.

Just last week, I made the case that the Red Sox are going to pull off another worst-to-first season in 2016, and nothing has happened since then to change my mind. 

The Red Sox actually finished 2015 on a strong note, going 34-26 in their final 60 games. That was mostly due to the damage wrought by Boston’s youth-infused offense. That same offense will be returning in 2016, and now the Red Sox have some pitching to go with it.

After spending $217 million on David Price, the Red Sox have the ace they lacked in 2015. After trades for Craig Kimbrel and Carson Smith, they also have an awesome bullpen. Whereas they gambled too heavily on a strong lineup going into 2015, the Red Sox now have a truly well-balanced team.

If there’s a team in the AL East that can stop them, it’s the Toronto Blue Jays. They won the division on the strength of an amazing offensive attack in 2015, and they figure to hit just as well in 2016.

However, the Blue Jays lost two pretty good pitchers to free agency in Price and Mark Buehrle. They’ve been replaced by J.A. Happ and Jesse Chavez, putting the Blue Jays in a position where they’ll have to hit enough to downplay lackluster starting pitching. As you might recall, that wasn’t so easy in the pre-Price days of 2015.

AL Central Champ: Cleveland Indians

As things stand now, the AL Central is probably the toughest division in baseball to figure out. It is not without some hesitation that we’re siding with Cleveland.

The Tribe do have problems, chief among them being a thin outfield and iffy rotation and bullpen depth. What we do know, however, is that Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco make for an awesome rotation trio. Courtesy of a September article from Ben Lindbergh of Grantland (RIP), we also know that the Indians are returning all of the key members from a much-improved defense.

The big question is how much Cleveland is going to hit. But if Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis can once again be excellent offensive middle infielders and Michael Brantley can make a strong return from shoulder surgery, the Tribe should hit enough to support their excellent run prevention.

Ah, yes. One can already feel the anger flowing through the hearts of Kansas City Royals fans. The punditry downplayed them going into 2015, after all, and that didn’t turn out so well.

True, but last year’s Royals weren’t missing Alex Gordon and waving goodbye to Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist. Also, two straight trips to the World Series make one wonder when fatigue will set in.

Elsewhere, nobody else in the division looks like a sure thing. The Detroit Tigers have bolstered their pitching staff but still look old and rickety. The Minnesota Twins made a good upside play by signing Byung-ho Park, but last year’s 83 wins come off as a fluke. The Chicago White Sox did well to add Todd Frazier, but their roster still looks terribly top-heavy.

AL West Champ: Houston Astros

This is another tough division to call. The 2015 AL West race ended up being a close call between the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels, and yours truly likes what the Seattle Mariners have done this winter.

But we have to hand it to Houston.

The Astros are missing some pieces from 2015, most notably Scott Kazmir and Chris Carter. But they didn’t need Kazmir for their rotation to have good depth, and their lineup still has more than enough power even without Carter. It also still has plenty of speed, for that matter.

The one area where the Astros have upgraded this winter is in their bullpen. The Astros retained a good left-hander by re-signing Tony Sipp, and they gained the power arm they so needed when they traded for Ken Giles.

“He’s got elite stuff,” Astros skipper A.J. Hinch said of his new toy, via Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle. “I think it starts with that. As he’s been able to harness it in the strike zone to get the swing and misses, get the soft contact, being able to utilize multiple pitches, not just a 100-mph fastball. He demonstrates that stuff very obviously to any scout or any coach that comes across him.”

The Astros will face some tough competition in 2016, but said competition comes with questions.

The Texas Rangers will benefit from having Cole Hamels for a full year and Yu Darvish for almost a full year, but their lineup has too many age potholes. The Angels did well to add Andrelton Simmons and Yunel Escobar, but Mike Trout still needs more offensive support. The Mariners have acquired much-needed depth across the board, but they’ll still need a lot to go right to contend in 2016.

Wild Card 1: Toronto Blue Jays

The 2016 Blue Jays probably aren’t going to be the steamroller that the 2015 Blue Jays were down the stretch, but they should be good enough to contend once again.

This will have a lot to do with their offense, which had the highest OPS in baseball by 45 points in 2015. They just need their pitching to be good enough, and that’s not asking too much. Marcus Stroman has legit top-of-the-rotation potential, and the Blue Jays could ask for worse depth than Happ, Chavez, Marco Estrada and R.A. Dickey.

Wild Card 2: Texas Rangers

Like in 2015, the second wild-card spot in the American League could be within reach for about a half-dozen teams by season’s end. It’s hard to pick one team out of the rabble.

But the Rangers and Royals are the two most likely final contenders for it, and one is inclined to lean toward the Rangers. Their offense has some cracks, but we shouldn’t overlook their potential as a pitching powerhouse. In addition to Hamels and Darvish, the Rangers will also have a healthy Derek Holland and a bullpen that was nigh untouchable when it came together at the end of 2015.

National League

NL East Champ: New York Mets

A 2015 NL East race that was supposed to be a one-horse race starring the Washington Nationals ended up being a one-horse race starring the Mets. After that, the 2016 race should be more of a traditional two-horse race.

But here’s thinking the Mets will win it again.

The Nationals aren’t a bad team. In fact, Mike Petriello of MLB.com pointed out how they actually project as an elite team. With a roster built around 2015 NL MVP Bryce Harper and a rotation consisting of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez, that makes sense.

But the Nationals are one of those teams that looks worse in reality than it does on paper. Their biggest problem is that they don’t have much depth beneath their star talent. And if 2015 taught them anything, it’s that such a problem could well be their doom.

Meanwhile, the Mets are arguably better in reality than they are on paper.

They’re still built around their incredible rotation trio of Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard, and those three will have the support of Steven Matz and (eventually) a healthy Zack Wheeler in 2016. In their bullpen, all roads still lead to Jeurys Familia.

On the other side of the ball, it does stand out that Yoenis Cespedes is gone and unlikely to be replaced by an impact player. But we shouldn’t overlook how Michael Conforto showed real potential as a rookie in 2015, and that the Mets’ lineup overall makes up for a lack of true impact talent with pretty good depth.

NL Central Champ: Chicago Cubs

Hey, remember when predicting that the Cubs would be contenders was an act of boldness?

Times have changed since then. The last year has seen the Cubs go from a team potentially on the rise to a team definitely on the rise. And how!

The Cubs have taken a roster that produced 97 wins in 2015 and added more talent than they’ve subtracted. John Lackey is in to support 2015 NL Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester in the rotation. Ben Zobrist is in to play second base. Jason Heyward is in to play center field.

It’s how Zobrist and Heyward fit into Chicago’s offense that’s especially exciting. Thanks to Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber, the Cubs already had lots of power. In Zobrist and Heyward, they now have two well-rounded hitters to set the table for them. That only makes it easier to believe Owen Watson of FanGraphs‘ conclusion that Chicago’s lineup has dynasty potential.

Mind you, the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates are still good teams. They’re just not the Cubs, who are in a class of their own.

NL West Champ: San Francisco Giants

Obviously, this has everything to do with even-year nonsense.

Also, the fact that the Giants are a pretty well-constructed team.

In Buster Posey behind the dish, a truly awesome infield, a top-tier ace in Madison Bumgarner and a solid bullpen, the Giants had about half of a great team in 2015. What they were missing was starting-pitching depth, and that was their undoing in the long run.

That undoing has since been undone. It’s cost the Giants more than $200 million, but they’ve brought in some much-needed starting pitching depth in the form of Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. Both are coming off rocky 2015 seasons, but the Giants can rest easy knowing that they should at least eat innings for them.

“We’ve added two significant workhorses,” Giants general manager Bobby Evans said, via Chris Haft of MLB.com. “[It] addresses an area that we really struggled with last year. This gives us a lot of hope looking at 2016 and beyond.”

The Giants will face some stiff competition in 2016. With Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller in town, the Arizona Diamondbacks look a lot better. And though they’ve failed to make big additions, the Los Angeles Dodgers are still a dangerous team.

But only the Dodgers present a real threat to the Giants, and they have the same problem as the Nationals. They’re good on paper, but their almost complete lack of rotation depth and bullpen depth combined with their assorted lineup question marks make them an unfinished product in reality.

Wild Card 1: Los Angeles Dodgers

We will now go straight from that last point to saying that, yeah, the Dodgers are probably still a playoff team as things stand now.

As easy as it is to focus on what the Dodgers don’t have, we shouldn’t overlook what they do have. Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball. Kenley Jansen is one of the best relief pitchers in baseball. Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Turner are really good hitters. Corey Seager and Joc Pederson are two high-ceiling youngsters. Yasmani Grandal, Carl Crawford and Yasiel Puig are good when healthy.

And so on. Though the Dodgers look too flawed to win the NL West, they’re not flawed enough to miss out entirely.

Wild Card 2: St. Louis Cardinals

If we assume that the Dodgers are still a capable team, this second wild card becomes a tough call between the Nationals, Cardinals, Pirates and Diamondbacks.

Any of the four could snag a wild-card spot, but the Cardinals are the safest bet. They’re not as good as the club that won an MLB-high 100 games in 2015, but they’re still good. Mike Leake adds stability to a Cardinals pitching staff that already had lots of talent, and the Cardinals’ 2016 offense should benefit from full seasons out of Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty.

And that, folks, is your not-too-early look at the 2016 postseason race. Be sure to check back in at the start of spring training, when the grand scheme of things will look notably different.

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

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

While trade chatter in the Hot Stove League has begun to regurgitate many of the same names we’ve been talking about for much of the offseason, a list that includes Carlos Carrasco and Jose Fernandez, one new name has begun making the rounds on the rumor mill—Jake Odorizzi.

Overshadowed in his own rotation by Chris Archer and the fact that he plays in Tampa Bay, which isn’t exactly the planet’s biggest media market, works against him in terms of the attention he gets, but it wasn’t that long ago that Odorizzi was considered one of the game’s brightest pitching prospects.

As he’s just entering his prime, the market for his services figures to be robust. What follows is a look at just how valuable a trade chip he is—and the kind of packages teams might have to put together in order to facilitate a deal.

What’s His Actual Trade Value?

The short answer is “whatever another team is willing to give up,” and that’s not only true in Odorizzi‘s case, but it also applies when looking at any player, in any sport, as a potential trade chip. But that doesn’t really help us here, and it certainly isn’t thought provoking or interesting at the least.

Thankfully, we only have to go back a few weeks to find a comparable pitcher that was traded: Shelby Miller. While Miller is the younger player, heading into his age-25 season, it’s Odorizzi, who will be 26 in March, that comes with more team control—four years to Miller’s three.

As for their respective numbers, well they’re close.

Close, but Odorizzi comes out looking like the better pitcher, especially if you’re a fan of WAR (Wins Above Replacement). Still, that doesn’t mean other teams are going to line up and present Tampa Bay with the same kind of deal Arizona ultimately made with Atlanta to pry Miller loose.

After all, the D-Backs have been universally bashed for paying such an exorbitant price for Miller, one that saw them part with a legitimate pitching prospect (Aaron Blair), an underrated outfielder (Ender Inciarte) and a potential franchise player (Dansby Swanson), last season’s top overall draft pick.

One executive told Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal that it was the “worst trade I’ve ever seen,” while others were still trying to understand exactly what the D-Backs were thinking days after the deal was made.

That said, the D-Backs have pushed the going rate for young, controllable starters higher, and the Rays are certainly going to be looking for something comparable in return.

It’s far to say, then, that it’s going to take two of a team’s best prospects, plus a third, useful (but controllable and relatively inexpensive) piece to even get the Rays interested in discussing a potential deal.

What teams have both the need (and necessary pieces) to make such an offer? Let’s take a look.

Potential Trade Packages

Los Angeles Dodgers

• Dodgers Get: RHP Jake McGee and RHP Jake Odorizzi
• Rays Get: C Austin Barnes, RHP Jose De Leon, RHP Frankie Montas, OF Trayce Thompson and a player to be named later

We expand the deal to include veteran reliever Jake McGee, an impact reliever that is quickly becoming an expense the fiscally strapped Rays can’t afford. Having missed out on Aroldis Chapman to bolster its bullpen, McGee is a fine consolation prize in LA, one that can thrive as a setup man or closer.

As for Odorizzi, B/R’s Danny Knobler recently wrote that adding him would salvage the Dodgers’ offseason, and, as usual, he nailed it.

Tampa Bay lands a pair of high-upside pitchers in Jose De Leon and Frankie Montas, the latter potentially becoming a late-inning reliever, another potential Ben Zobrist-type player in the versatile Austin Barnes and an intriguing outfielder, Trayce Thompson, who could develop into a perennial 20/20 threat.

St. Louis Cardinals

• Cardinals Get: 1B James Loney and RHP Jake Odorizzi
• Rays Get: 1B Matt Adams, RHP Jack Flaherty and OF Charlie Tilson

Note: Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Cardinals have reached an agreement with free agent starter Mike Leake, which would appear to take them out of the running for Odorizzi.

Another expanded deal, this time with the Cardinals absorbing the nearly $10 million that first baseman James Loney is due in the final year of his contract to entice the Rays, who would certainly like to get out from under such an expense.

With Lance Lynn out for all of 2016 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and John Lackey having defected to division-rival Chicago as a free agent, St. Louis needs to bolster its rotation. Odorizzi, who grew up roughly 40 minutes away from Busch Stadium in Highland, Illinois, does just that.

In exchange, the Rays get Matt Adams, who comes with three years of team control and is a significant upgrade at first base, a high-upside pitching prospect in Jack Flaherty and Charlie Tilson, a speedy outfielder that projects to be a table-setter atop a team’s lineup.

Texas Rangers

• Rangers Get: RHP Jake Odorizzi
• Rays Get: OF Lewis Brinson, OF/IF Ryan Cordell and RHP Luis Ortiz

Texas lands a young, controllable arm to add depth to a rotation that, outside of Cole Hamels, comes with its fair share of injury concerns. Yu Darvish, Derek Holland and Martin Perez have all missed significant time with various ailments, and Darvish doesn’t figure to be ready by Opening Day.

The Rays wind up with three intriguing youngsters, including Lewis Brinson, who was arguably baseball’s fastest-rising and hottest prospect throughout 2015.

Not only did he open eyes during the regular season but garnered praise for his work in the Arizona Fall League, with MLB.com’s Mike Rosenbaum writing he “…was arguably the best player on the field in terms of his athleticism, tools and overall capacity to impact a game.”

Luis Ortiz has all the tools necessary to develop into a legitimate front-of-the-rotation arm, while the versatile Ryan Cordell, who can handle corner spots in the outfield, shortstop and third base and, like Brinson, has the power/speed combination teams covet.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs. All contract information courtesy of Cot’s Contracts (via Baseball Prospectus).

Hit me up on Twitter to talk the Hot Stove League and all things baseball: @RickWeinerBR. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The good news for MLB‘s most inactive contenders—like the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers—is that it’s not even Christmas yet, which means there’s still plenty of time to shop.

The bad news for those clubs is that the offseason hasn’t gone to script—at least not yet.

As the baseball world prepares to shut down for the holiday season, this is the perfect time to survey the league and figure out which contenders can afford to be patient and which ones should be hitting the panic button.

The squads that fall on the “patient” side of the equation have prominent needs that can be readily filled either via free agency or the trade market. But the teams that land in the “panic” camp have some major weaknesses and happen to be playing in fiercely competitive divisions.

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