Hot Stove League set to Broil

Just more than one week after the end of the 2008 baseball season news of free agent signings and potential trades are boiling over. The top stories at this point are the offer made to the enigmatic Manny Ramirez by the L.A. Dodgers, an offer reportedly worth $45 mil. over two years with an option for a third, and the potential trade of Padres' ace Jake Peavy to the Chicago Cubs. These stories are big. The Dodgers have several young offensive stars that will be able to shine even brighter with Manny in the middle of that lineup, and the Cubs already have a formidable starting rotation, but the addition of Peavy could make the 2009 Cubs the only team other than the 1971 Baltimore Orioles to have four 20-game winners by season's end. Actually, these stories are huge, but the big picture is where the rest of the dominoes will fall between now and next April.

The big picture is that there are 22 teams that had their seasons end in September, a few like the Pirates and Tigers whose seasons were done much sooner, that should be big buyers. There are another six teams that didn't reach the ultimate series and two others, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, that even though they were world champions and league champions respectively will not rest on their laurels.

Head here to see what your team or favorite player is set to do this offseason:

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