Updating the Hottest Questions of the 2014-15 MLB Offseason, Week 2

Major League Baseball's offseason has just begun, and already there are all sorts of rumors and speculation—and questions—surrounding a number of free agents and trade candidates, as well as teams' objectives and plans of attack.

Having hit on a number of topics last time, what better way to continue taking the temperature of the hot stove than by running through a batch of the hottest questions to cover the latest potential transaction action across the sport?

See, that's a question in and of itself, although the five to follow are a bit more meaningful. Promise.

What's Next for the New York Mets?

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

After acquiring Michael Cuddyer, Mets GM Sandy Alderson has more to do.

After signing free agent Michael Cuddyer to a two-year, $21 million contract in somewhat of a surprising strike early this offseason, the New York Mets and general manager Sandy Alderson have the next step in mind already: targeting an actual major league-caliber shortstop, as Marc Carig of Newsday reports.

Given the dearth of enticing options on the free-agent market—unless the club has a different evaluation than most of Asdrubal Cabrera, Jed Lowrie and Stephen Drew—the Mets' best bet might be to work out a deal in which they shore up that position by moving one of their (count 'em) seven starting pitchers.

Ace right-hander Matt Harvey, on his way back from Tommy John surgery that cost him all of 2014, is off limits, but any of the other arms could be included, depending on the price. Yes, that means even Zack Wheeler, or even newly minted NL Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom or top prospect Noah Syndergaard, who has yet to debut but is big league ready after spending the season at Triple-A.

While either of those two likely would return an above-average shortstop (Starlin Castro? Alexei Ramirez?), Alderson instead could look to make a small upgrade from projected starter Wilmer Flores by parting with one of Jon Niese, Dillon Gee or Bartolo Colon.

Either way, the Cuddyer signing is an indication there's more to come in Flushing, as Phil Rogers writes for Sports on Earth:

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One of the beauties of every Hot Stove season is that teams are trying to make their rosters as competitive as possible, and there are always some teams that feel more urgency to win than some others. This year, the Mets are one of the teams that is in a win-now mode.

"Yeah, Sandy has talked about [how] we're looking to turn the corner here, to compete in 2015," said assistant general manager John Ricco, referring to GM Sandy Alderson. "I think this is a message that we're going to be aggressive. Right out of the box, we had a guy we liked and we went out and got him."

"

Can the Los Angeles Dodgers Trade One of Their High-Priced Outfielders?

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Just call this the $225 million question, because that's how much it's costing the Los Angeles Dodgers to keep all three of Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp—who are owed $56 million, $62 million and $107 million, respectively—over the remainder of their contracts.

As for that other outfielder, a guy by the name of Yasiel Puig, he's likely not going anywhere. But the new front office duo of Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi have made it clear that the time has come to move an outfielder, as Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles writes. That means one of Ethier, Crawford or Kemp.

"I think it's most likely the best course of action to move one of those players," Friedman said.

The trouble here is that the outfielder with the least onerous contract, Ethier, is also the least valuable of the three after he hit just .249/.322/.370 with four homers in 130 games (380 plate appearances).

Meanwhile, the one who was most productive in 2014, Kemp, has the most money left, which makes him uninviting to most teams even though he led the NL with 17 homers and all of MLB with a .606 slugging percentage over the second half.

So the Dodgers might have to get creative, which very well could mean eating a large percentage—perhaps even half—of someone's salary to get something done.

"Obviously we need to figure out a way to line up on something that makes sense for us and another team to trade a guy and put ourselves in the best position to be more nimble with our roster and more flexible," Friedman said.

As if the overcrowding in the outfield wasn't bad enough, one of L.A.'s top prospects, Joc Pederson, debuted late in the season after a 30-30 campaign at Triple-A. He's ready, and he'll cost the major league minimum, which is all the more motivation for this club to find a taker on one of Ethier, Crawford or Kemp.

Will the Rockies Really Trade One (or Both) of Their Stars?

Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

The Colorado Rockies haven't completely changed their stance on the idea of trading stud shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and/or star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. They do seem to have softened, however.

Members of the club's ownership and front office, having long remained steadfast in their intentions to keep both players no matter what, acknowledged recently that they are at least willing to listen to offers on the duo, as Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported.

Still, new GM Jeff Bridich told Thomas Harding of MLB.com, "We don't have to move them, and we don't know if it's the right move to trade either one or both of those players who are All-Stars—perennial All-Stars."

The perennial problem, though, is how injury-prone these two are. Out of a possible 486 games the past three seasons, Gonzalez has played in just 315, while Tulowitzki has made it into just 264.

Without seeing Tulowitzki and Gonzalez back on the field, healthy and productive, there's simply too much risk for suitors to give up what the Rockies would ask for to part with either of them.

Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post agrees:

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It might be much better for the Rockies and new general manager Jeff Bridich to wait a year from now, hoping one or both are fully healthy and playing like an all-star again. The value of a proven healthy Tulo or CarGo is so much greater than their current value, as both are recovering from surgery.

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That said, if one or both have a strong first half of 2015, Bridich would be wise to act fast if they're healthy. Who knows how long it will stay that way, and the Rockies really need to make some changes after winning no more than 74 games in any of the past four years. And that's with Tulowitzki and Gonzalez.

Could the Miami Marlins Ink Giancarlo Stanton to a Record $300 Million Contract?

Alan Diaz/Associated Press

Perhaps the biggest news to come down this week? That the Miami Marlins reportedly are considering signing NL MVP runner-up Giancarlo Stanton to a record contract, one that starts with a "3."

As Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reports: "The two sides are discussing a deal that would be for at least 10 years and at least $300 million, according to major league sources."

So much for that annual offseason speculation that the Marlins might trade Stanton, eh?

Then again, even though Miami had an encouraging 2014 season in which many of its core young players took significant steps forward, it seems almost impossible that a franchise known for being frugal (to put it nicely) actually would dish out that amount of money to any player ever. Even Stanton.

Despite having his 2014 cut short in that scary incident in which he was hit by a pitch in his face, causing facial lacerations, fractures and dental damage, Stanton had a career year and just turned 25 on Nov. 8. He finished the season with a career-high-tying 37 homers, giving him 154 for his career.

The list of players who have hit 150-plus home runs through their age-24 season is simultaneously short and impressive.

Of the 11 to do so before Stanton, seven are in the Hall of Fame—Ken Griffey Jr. and Albert Pujols will be, and Alex Rodriguez would be if not for his PED problems—and the only two to finish their careers with fewer than 400 homers are Johnny Bench (389) and Orlando Cepeda (379).

Stanton's power profile is a good one to bank on going forward, but this whole $300 million contract stuff still smells Fishy, like the club's decision-makers are trying to make it known they're putting forth a good showing so the fans know they tried to lock Stanton up long-term.

After all, the Marlins have done the spend-and-slash before (see: offseasons 2011-12 and 2012-13), and their 2014 payroll was the lowest in the majors.

"We're having continual dialogue," Marlins GM Dan Jennings said. "I wouldn't say we're close to anything."

In other words, bravo to the Fish for the publicity effort, but file this under believe it when we see it.

Who Is This Yoan Moncada Everyone's Raving About?

Forget Yasmany Tomas, who we hit on last week. The slugging outfielder is practically old news on the international Cuban free-agent front—and he hasn't even signed yet.

That's because the talk of the next big thing out of the island country is now centered on Yoan Moncada.

But who is this Moncada? Here's Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports: "He is a 19-year-old, switch-hitting, fast-twitch-muscled, movie-star-looking bundle of talent from Cuba packed into a 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame."

Here's Ben Badler of Baseball America on Moncada, who plays shortstop:

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[He is] the best teenager to leave Cuba since Jorge Soler, a player with exciting tools and dominance of the Cuban junior leagues on par with what Yasiel Puig did at the same age. ...

... He has more upside than Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo, who just reached a $72.5 million deal with the Red Sox. He's better than Cuban outfielder Yasmany Tomas.... If Moncada were eligible for the 2015 draft, he would be in the mix to be the No. 1 overall pick.

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So he's pretty much the stuff MLB GMs dream about, especially given all of the success former Cuban stars have had in America recently, from Aroldis Chapman to Yoenis Cespedes to Yasiel Puig to Jose Abreu, who just won AL Rookie of the Year.

That's why speculation is that Moncada, who worked out for MLB teams Wednesday in Guatemala, where he is trying to establish residency since he left Cuba, will sign for upward of $30 million to $40 million, per Passan. That's provided all the legal and governmental avenues check out and Moncada is declared a free agent this winter.

General managers, get your checkbooks out.

Statistics are accurate through the 2014 season and courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11.