Fact or Fiction on All of MLB Offseason Week 7's Free-Agency, Trade Rumors

The weather outside may not be winter-like for some, but Christmas typically brings with it a cooling off for the Hot Stove League. This year is no exception, as the rumor mill has gradually slowed to a crawl over the past week as the baseball universe makes its final holiday preparations.

For a day, at least, the business of baseball takes a back seat to the business of family.

But that's not to say that there's nothing to talk about, however. Conversations between representatives of free agents and general managers continue, while seemingly never-ending trade talks between clubs rolls along in the form of email and text messages—between sips of egg nog, that is.

Have negotiations between a longtime clubhouse fixture and his former club reached the point of no return? Can a team ever have enough pitching depth? Will one of the rumor mill's longest tenants finally find his way out of the endless loop of trade speculation?

We'll tackle all of that and more in this week's edition of Fact or Fiction.

Fact: The Cardinals Aren't Going to Trade a Starter for an Outfielder

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

After signing Mike Leake to a five-year, $80 million deal, speculation began to swirl that St. Louis would look to flip one of its other starting pitchers in a deal for an outfielder to replace Jason Heyward, who signed an eight-year, $184 million pact with division-rival Chicago earlier this month.

But that's simply not going to happen.

A rotation of Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha, Leake and Jaime Garcia certainly has the potential to be very, very good, and the team does have reinforcements on the farm in the form of Tim Cooney and Marco Gonzales if and when they're needed.

But that's not a whole lot of depth, and that's something the Cardinals, like every other team, can never have enough of. So while Leake adds some depth, it's not nearly enough for the Cardinals to seriously consider moving a Gonzales or Martinez for a big bat.

Fiction: The Dodgers Will Definitely Bid on Kenta Maeda

Ben Margot/Associated Press

The Los Angeles Dodgers have maintained contact with the representatives for Japanese ace Kenta Maeda, tweets Fox Sports' Jon Morosi, and it wouldn't shock anyone if the team spent big to add the 27-year-old to its rotation.

But that's far from a guarantee.

While he's younger than nearly all of the available free-agent starters, as MLB.com's Tom Singer notes, Maeda also brings with him an additional $20 million posting fee, which has to be paid before a team can negotiate with him.

The Dodgers can negotiate with players like Scott Kazmir for free. And they have been, according to Morosi's Fox Sports' colleague Ken Rosenthal. With a slew of other arms available in free agency (Wei-Yin Chen, Yovani Gallardo, etc.) and trade (Alex Cobb, Jake Odorizzi, etc.), the Dodgers have options.

Those options are battle-tested against major league hitters, something Maeda can't claim to be. While he may ultimately be a better pitcher than the others from which the Dodgers have to choose, he also represents the biggest risk.

It's a risk the team may simply choose to avoid altogether.

Fact: Alex Gordon Won't Be Back in Kansas City

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman hears from sources that Alex Gordon's camp has informed the Royals "that, as things currently stand, they have 'no chance' to retain [their] star left fielder." Clearly, the two sides are locked in a game of chicken, waiting for the other to blink first.

Yet when you consider the deal Kansas City has reportedly extended to him—"a four-year offer in the $12 to $13 million-per-year range," per ESPN's Jim Bowden—it's not hard to understand why Gordon's not blinking. After all, he made $12.5 million in 2015, so this new deal offers almost no raise at all.

Could the Royals raise their offer? Of course. But there's little chance they'll come anywhere near the $20 million yearly salary that Heyman says Gordon seeks. It's foolish to believe continued negotiations will result in a deal that satisfies both sides.

With the Royals not only needing a corner outfielder but another starting pitcher as well, what little chance existed for Gordon to continue his career with the only team he's ever known has disappeared.

Fiction: Denard Span Will Get the Three-Year Deal He Wants

John Bazemore/Associated Press

Hard-working, humble and a great teammate, Denard Span is the kind of ballplayer that any manager would love to have in his clubhouse on a daily basis. But he's also a player whose value comes from his legs, and the soon-to-be 32-year-old is coming off a season that saw a bad hip limit him to 61 games.

That's not a good thing, even for a player that, after the "big three" of Yoenis Cespedes, Gordon and Justin Upton, is probably the best outfielder left on the free-agent market. But it hasn't stopped his agent, Scott Boras, from seeking a three-year deal for his client, per Mike Puma of the New York Post.

Three years for Span certainly falls very low on the list of outlandish requests that Boras has made over his career, but that doesn't make it any more likely that Boras will get what he wants. With plenty of similar, albeit lesser options available, no team is going to take the risk of guaranteeing Span three years.

Maybe Span will show enough in his January workout to entice a team to extend a two-year offer, or perhaps there's a general manager willing to offer three years, but only a guarantee in 2016, with the 2017 and 2018 seasons looming as mutual options.

Fact: The Rockies Should Trade Carlos Gonzalez...

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

...but won't.

Colorado's most valuable trade chip has drawn interest from a number of teams over the past few weeks and rightfully so. A two-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger Award winner and three-time Gold Glove Award winner, CarGo remains in the prime of his career and is due a reasonable $37 million through 2017.

The Rockies aren't going to—and shouldn't—give him away. But they do need to move on from a depreciating asset, especially one with as shaky an injury history as Gonzalez has.

With little hope of contending in 2016, trading Gonzalez would bring the Rockies an influx of young talent—specifically on the mound—as they continue to try and figure out how to build a successful major league rotation and a perennial contender.

Sure, it'd be great to land a pitcher like Kevin Gausman, a potential ace that, per a report from CBS Sports' Heyman, was the centerpiece of a package the Rockies asked Baltimore for in exchange for CarGo.

But the Rockies need more than an ace to right what has been wrong with the club's rotation for a very long time. They need multiple quality arms that are capable of eating innings and giving the team a chance to win games more often than not.

Moving CarGo can bring back that kind of a return—even if it doesn't include a current or future ace.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs. All contract information courtesy of Cot's Contracts (via Baseball Prospectus).

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