MLB

It's time for the offseason shuffle! The St. Louis Cardinals will be among the 30 MLB clubs shaping up their lineups heading into 2014, and the free agent market is the biggest tool at their disposal.

The team made headlines with their young talent this year, but it seems as if trading away the farm system is not in the plans.

With the 2013 baseball season over, the sting of a six-game NLCS loss still fresh in Dodgers fans hearts, it's time to do one of two things:

A New York Mets offseason certain to prove a pillar in whatever the future holds for the franchise has been somewhat quiet thus far.  For how much longer remains to be seen, but the expectations are high.  

During the MLB offseason, there will be a flurry of rumors that fly around connecting players to new teams and potential trade partners. Most of these rumors turn out to be false, but there are certainly a few that turn out to be right every single year.

A lot of these rumored connections make a lot of sense for both sides. General managers will be looking to turn their teams into championship contenders with the moves they make this winter.

Keep an eye on the following players and teams because these potential deals should happen at some point this winter.

The San Francisco Giants, for the first time in a long time, are going to make splashy moves in the offseason.

San Francisco already dished out lofty amounts of money to retain Hunter Pence and Tim Lincecum, but    there is still more to do. Left field needs to be upgraded, the pitching staff needs to be filled out and the bench needs improvement.

What should the Giants do this offseason?

Every MLB team has an idea of how they think their offseason will play out, or at least how they would like it to, but rarely do things go according to plan during the MLB offseason.

Whether it's a surprise player hitting the trade market and changing the market for other players at his position, a free-agent signing with an unexpected suitor, a player opting against re-signing when he's expected to and hitting the open market or something else altogether, there is no shortage of reasons an offseason can be altered.

There's no doubt that there are some supremely talented hitters available on the MLB free-agent market this winter. 

As general managers scour the market for that impact bat, which will likely cost an exorbitant sum, they will have to dig deep inside the numbers. There are plenty of red flags to consider. Has a player been linked to PEDs in the past? What are his platoon splits? And finally, what kind of a health record does he have?

Injuries always negatively affect a player's earning potential heading into MLB free agency, but they don't necessarily make him any less popular among needy teams.

The following veterans all have track records of success that practically ensure that they'll receive major league deals this winter.

David Price thinks he has thrown his last pitch for the Tampa Bay Rays, according to a report by Roger Mooney of The Tampa Tribune, and the early rumors, as discussed by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, have the Arizona Diamondb

After keeping it holstered last winter, the word is that the New York Yankees are ready to get their checkbook out again this winter, and that they're not going to be messing around when they do.

That will be the case as far as their pursuit of Japanese right-handed pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is concerned anyway, and yours truly is inclined to say "Rightfully so!" to the idea.