MLB

The New York Yankees made a big splash during the early stages of free agency by signing free-agent center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury to a seven-year deal worth $153 million.

The Boston Red Sox might not want to trade John Lackey, given his strong 2013 season and his extremely team-friendly $500,000 club option for 2015. But, in all likelihood, they'll want to clear up a crowded rotation situation before the start of the season, and there may not be a better time to trade the veteran right-hander. 

The blockbuster trade that sent Prince Fielder to the Rangers and Ian Kinsler to the Tigers was one of the offseason's first landscape-changing transactions. There have been relatively few swaps since then, with the Diamondbacks-Angels-White Sox three-way deal leading the way, but perhaps the winding down of the free-agent market will spell the re-opening of the trade market.

The MLB offseason will jump back into the swing of things once the calendar flips to 2014. For now, the rumor mill has slowed down during the holidays, serving as a lull between a wild December and a January that also figures to feature plenty of high-profile moves.

As the year that saw the Boston Red Sox win their third World Series Championship in 10 years winds to a close, fans and analysts are wondering what the franchise will do to back up their crown in 2014.

Boston has been relatively quiet this offseason, as shown by the team's transactions provided by CBS Sports.

Even though there are still a few big prizes left on the free-agent market, most Major League Baseball teams have done the bulk of their winter shopping already and are making final preparations for the 2014 season.

What better time to take a look back at what has happened on the hot stove?

It's time to hand out grades for all 30 teams based on what they have or haven't done this winter. Keep in mind that some of these marks can still move up, depending on what happens with key players like Masahiro Tanaka, Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana.

It’s safe to say that Oakland A’s outfielders struggled in 2013. In fact, they ranked 28th in the majors with a collective batting average of .236.

Every season, there are a number of players in the MLB who put up disappointing numbers. They are coming off of strong seasons and either their power numbers, batting average or ERA fails to match what they did in the previous year.

Players regress for a number of reasons, and there are some key indicators which may hint at the fact that a player will fail to replicate his numbers from the previous season. A very high batting average on balls in play is one such example.

You might consider the Oakland Athletics to be winners this offseason. You might say the flurry of moves they made were average. But each move had major implications—some good, some bad—for the individual players involved.

For example, certain guys held on to their role while others lost theirs. One guy in particular made out like a bandit with the money he'll make, while another essentially lost out on millions.

Then there's a certain piece of offseason news that affects the fans.