Opinion

Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn should give his counterpart with the New York Mets a call and offer up Dayan Viciedo for second baseman Daniel Murphy.

It could be an ideal scenario for both the White Sox and the Mets, actually.

The Cincinnati Reds recently made two quick fixes to their roster that will solidify their team in 2014.

Teams around Major League Baseball that are unable to find the right player for a reasonable price in free agency turn to the trade market instead. It could become a common theme this winter with a limited number of impact free agents available.

It comes down to maximizing value. General managers must decide whether it makes more sense to pay slightly over market value to secure a free agent or move an asset already within the organization to acquire a player to fill the same void.

The Los Angeles Dodgers might be big spenders, but they haven't made any major signings so far this offseason.

The Cincinnati Reds' core group of players is capable of winning a World Series title in 2014.

The team possesses a quality starting rotation, a brilliant general manager and two hitters in Joey Votto and Jay Bruce who are amongst the best at their respective positions. While they certainly will need to add a few players in order to complete their lineup, and possibly their bullpen, there are pieces in place for the team to make a serious run next season.

The free-agent market remains a hotbed of activity. Teams around Major League Baseball are searching for the right players to fill roster voids, but it comes down to getting the best value possible, which means some situations drag out.

As always, the biggest question is whether shelling out a monster contract will be a sound investment over the long haul. It's a debate the New York Yankees are going through concerning Robinson Cano, the biggest prize available this offseason.

Most of the top-tier free agents remain unsigned roughly a month after the frenzy began, but several deals have been struck. Some of them look like good signings and some of them...do not. Here are the early winners and losers of the offseason.

Winners

Early in the offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers have already been involved in several moves. With the departures of Skip Schumaker and Nick Punto and the arrival of Dan Haren, we already know that several members of the 2014 roster will be new faces.

There are still moves to be made as November turns into December, but this is a good time to take stock of where the Dodgers are and how they've made out during these first few transactions.

If there are two things baseball fans love, it is free agency and statistics. You have to pay attention to numbers in baseball, because they will tell you a story about any given player. There are also patterns and trends to follow in the numbers that can help accurately predict what a player's future will look like. 

Free agency is a different animal. It is easy to say Player X will sign with Team Y, but until the bidding starts and payroll ceilings are set, no one knows what will happen.

That's the beauty of this time of year, the idea that anything can happen.

It's impossible to read anything about Jacoby Ellsbury's free agency that doesn't mention his injury history. "Point X, Point Y, Point Z, but then there's his injury history," they all (basically) say.