Hot Stove action ready to heat up

Dec 11, 2017 - 7:15 AM There are still two months to go before pitchers and catchers report, yet two of the biggest events of this baseball offseason likely played out over the past few days.

Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani agreed to join the Los Angeles Angels on Friday. And in the wee hours of Saturday morning, the Miami Marlins finalized an agreement to trade National League Most Valuable Player and major league home run champion Giancarlo Stanton to the New York Yankees.

Both are seismic events.

Ohtani could have chosen any number of fully formed World Series contenders but didn't. Stanton nudged the Marlins to send him to New York by invoking his no-trade clause to void Miami's agreements for trades to both the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals.

There is still so much more to play out, in free agency and on the trade market. The coming months of "Hot Stove" action began when the winter meetings convened in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday night.

Here are a handful of things worth keeping an eye on as the meetings unfold and in the weeks ahead:

--The continuing Marlins sell-off: Dee Gordon was shipped to the Seattle Mariners and Stanton to the Yankees, and that is probably not the end of the dealing.

The new ownership group backed by Bruce Sherman and fronted by Derek Jeter shelled out $1.2 billion for the club but also reportedly took on $400 million in debt. They expressed a desire to get the team's 2018 payroll into the vicinity of $90 million as part of their business plan. That means trading away some of the club's better (and more expensive players).

The candidates include just-acquired second baseman Starlin Castro (due $21 million over two years), outfielders Marcell Ozuna (due two arbitration years totaling at least $20 million) and Christian Yelich ($43.25 million over four years), relievers Junichi Tazawa ($7 million for one year) and Brad Ziegler ($9 million for one year) and third baseman Martin Prado ($28.5 million over two years).

--The Angels' increased sense of urgency: Ohtani is potentially one of the great bargains in baseball. In choosing to play in the North American major leagues this season -- instead of two years from now -- he doesn't get a long-term deal and will make the big-league minimum of about $545,000. So here are the Angels with Ohtani and megastar Mike Trout and money to work with in free agency.

To be a contender now, Los Angeles is going to need second and third basemen as well as a closer and maybe some high-profile starters. During six seasons with Trout in the fold, the Angels have made the postseason only one time, and the 2018 model also has Justin Upton, Andrelton Simmons and Albert Pujols.

There are a number of excellent second basemen and third basemen available by trade and in free agency. The Angels been known to spend, and it might be time for a spree.

--Manny Machado's future with the Baltimore Orioles: Machado is coming off a down season -- if one can believe 33 homers and 95 RBIs is "down" -- yet he is clearly one of the biggest talents in the game. He will be 26 and a free agent at the end of the 2018 season, and the Orioles already have other teams taking their temperature on a potential deal.

Baltimore is plenty enamored of its third baseman and surely would like to keep him in the fold, but he could be worthy of a free agent deal in the same $300 million as Stanton, and that may be too rich for the Orioles' blood. The Orioles' biggest-ever contract was the 2016 deal of $161 million for seven years to Chris Davis.

The Orioles will require a bevy in return to trade Machado, but they may want to take that rather than risk Machado walking for one-draft-pick compensation at the end of the season. Teams that missed out on Stanton, such as the Giants and Cardinals, could have serious interest.

--The Boston Red Sox's countermove: The Yankees' move to acquire Stanton is going to demand a reaction in Boston. The Red Sox's archrival now looks like the favorite to win the American League East if not the entire league. The idea that the Red Sox won't jump into the offensive arms race is hard to fathom.

The Red Sox didn't hit a lot of home runs in reaching the postseason last year, and power clearly has become the name of the game. The top home run hitter on the free agent market is an attractive one: J.D. Martinez, who hit a combined 45 homers for the Detroit Tigers and the Arizona Diamondbacks last season.

Boston also may be interested in signing Kansas City Royals free agents Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas (though to add Martinez or Moustakas, it could mean unseating or trading a promising young star). There also may be top sluggers on the trade market as teams look to deal them as they enter the final year on their contract, such as Machado or the Toronto Blue Jays' Josh Donaldson.

--Yu Darvish's value in free agency: Among free agent starting pitchers, Darvish is the biggest name, barreling toward a multiyear deal worth more than $100 million. He spent years as the ace of the Texas Rangers and he was the Los Angeles Dodgers' key pick-up for their postseason run last year.

However, everyone's last impression of the right-hander is not a good one. In the World Series against the Houston Astros, he drew the start in Games 3 and 7 and didn't get through two innings in either. His World Series ERA was 21.60, with those epic failures causing general managers to question whether he is a big-game pitcher.

There is no doubt Darvish will be in demand as top starting pitching remains baseball's most valuable commodity, but what teams are willing to offer after those two games on the biggest stage bears watching.