Dee Gordon trade begins Marlins firesale, Mariners playoff aspirations  —  MLB awards season is here.  Take a look at all the 2017 winners.  USA TODAY Sports  —  CONNECT  —  The Seattle Mariners and Miami Marlins, separated by 2,732 miles and going in complete opposite directions …

Five trades we'd love to see at the winter meetings  —  Let's make a deal!  The real general managers certainly haven't been, that's for sure.  It has been the slowest offseason in memory, as teams wait for free agents to bring down their prices and Shohei Ohtani and Giancarlo Stanton to make their decisions.

The challenge for Ohtani's new team: What comes next  —  Baseball agents have gone to progressively greater lengths to pitch their free-agent clients in recent years.  Scott Boras has received lots of attention for his binders, and other big agencies have ramped up their presentations …

Cubs Sign Tyler Chatwood  —  6:35pm: Jon Heyman of FanRag passes along further details on Chatwood's deal (Twitter links).  He'll earn $12.5MM apiece in each of the first two years and $13MM in the third.  —  By operation of an escalator provision, that $13MM salary for 2020 will climb …

Orioles pitcher Gausman changes number to honor Halladay  —  BALTIMORE (AP) Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman will wear No. 34 next season as a tribute to Roy Halladay, who was killed in a plane crash last month.  —  Gausman announced the switch Thursday on his Twitter account.  The right-hander wore No. 39 last year.

Joe Girardi wasn't hard enough on Gary Sanchez, Yankees sources say  —  The perception coming out of the Aaron Boone press conference is that the Yankees want the new manager to shower players with love as a way of getting the most out of them, none more so than Gary Sanchez.

Detroit Tigers close to signing starting pitcher Mike Fiers to one-year deal  —  The Detroit Tigers will head to the winter meetings with a starting pitcher in tow.  —  The team is close to signing free agent right-hander Mike Fiers to a one-year deal, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Cardinals' front office complete a series of promotions, name Morales int'l director  —  ST. LOUIS  • When players acquired by the Cardinals' international scouts arrive in Jupiter, Fla., to take the next step in their professional career, one of the people they get to know best is Luis Morales.

Giancarlo Stanton will only approve trade to Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers or Astros: report  —  Yankees fan dreaming of a Giancarlo Stanton-Aaron Judge 1-2 punch, don't give up hope just yet.  —  According to a report, the Marlins slugger named the Yankees among three other teams he'd be willing to accept a trade.

Cubs' Theo Epstein: Leaner Kyle Schwarber looking to dominate ‘the controllables’  —  Photos of Cubs catcher and outfielder Kyle Schwarber.  —  Chicago Tribune  —  The photographs of a trimmer Kyle Schwarber that were posted on social media Wednesday weren't touched up.

Phillies remove two from 40-man roster  —  The Phillies cleared two spots on their 40-man roster to provide some flexibility ahead of next week's Winter Meetings.  The team, according to a source, placed outfielder Cameron Perkins and infielder Engelb Vielma on waivers.