Opinion

Just when you think there are no more moves for the Houston Astros to make, they find a way to prove you wrong. 

Baseball, despite how much we analyze and study the game, will always surprise fans. For every star who has a poor season, castoffs, veterans and young players emerge to exceed expectations. In 2013, six players did just that on the way to stardom.

In 2014, don't expect the same results. Over the course of time, more innings, at-bats and exposure, true stars emerge from the pack. One or two big seasons won't make a star. Instead, years of success are needed to be exempt from a list like this.

Coming off the winter meetings and holiday season, Major League Baseball teams can start getting back into the swing of things. It's been a fairly quiet trade season, at least based on our expectations at the end of the 2013 season, but that doesn't mean there aren't moves to be made. 

In fact, one could argue that we will see more activity on the trade market now that we are edging closer to seeing the top free agents come off the market. Once teams have an idea of where the rest of the market is, it will be easier to open things up for deals. 

On the one hand, the moves made by Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane this winter seem out of character for a team that had a payroll of $61.9 million in 2013. The team has spent money to bring in an experienced closer in Jim Johnson and also signed free-agent starter Scott Kazmir.

There are some Texas Ranger fans who believe that it could be in the team's best interest to eventually trade shortstop Elvis Andrus.

Parting with Andrus, who was a core member of the 2010 and 2011 Rangers teams that made consecutive World Series appearances, would be an extremely difficult call to make.

But there are pretty fair arguments on both sides of the coin here.

Through the first two seasons of Bryce Harper's career, he's shown prodigious power at a young age. If his offseason plan comes to fruition, he'll be bigger and stronger than ever in 2014.

The Philadelphia Phillies just got paid.

And just like that, Alex Rodriguez's one-man wolf pack grew by two. 

When somebody finally goes into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a unanimous selection, the sport will have a new unbreakable record to put next the nine-pitch, three-strikeout inning.

Now that the calendar reads January, we're closer to the start of 2014 spring training than we are to the final out of the 2013 World Series.

As such, a select few of baseball's top free agents are still playing the waiting game as they look for work for the new season. Likewise, many well-known players are still on the trading block following a winter rampant with rumors.