What a Canó trade might look like; D-Backs stars on the block together?; bullpen market intrigue  —  Dealing a potential ace such as James Paxton was not all that difficult for Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto.  Neither, in a market starved for catching, was moving Mike Zunino.

Evaluating risk factor for top 10 free-agent relievers  —  Relief pitchers threw 17,422 innings in 2018 — that's up from 14,977 just five years ago.  That's an average of 81.5 innings per team, so on just a pure volume level relief pitchers are more important than ever.

Southpaw Shopping: How Cardinals will find the lefty reliever who's just right  —  bST.  LOUIS  • An area the Cardinals must address this winter is the left side of their bullpen, and in public comments made all offseason executives have not been hiding that.

Braves Sign Brian McCann  —  2:07pm: The Braves announced that they've signed McCann to a one-year deal worth $2MM.  As agent B.B. Abbott explained to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links), McCann's priority this winter was to return to Atlanta.  —  1:08pm: It's a one-year deal for McCann, tweets MLB.com's Jon Morosi.

Angels' Dino Ebel expected to be among Dodgers' coaching hires  —  The Dodgers plan to begin filling the vacancies on their major league coaching staff in the next few days and Angels coach Dino Ebel is expected to be among the new hires.  —  The 52-year-old Ebel has spent the past 14 seasons …

Baseball's front-office execs with the most to prove this winter  —  As the director of baseball operations and assistant general manager for the Oakland Athletics and then as the general manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Farhan Zaidi has been a major figure in assembling the rosters …

Slugger C.J. Cron claimed off waivers by Twins  —  The Minnesota Twins claimed slugger C.J. Cron off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday.  —  Cron had been designated for assignment by the Rays despite hitting 30 home runs and posting an .816 OPS last season.

Braves To Sign Josh Donaldson  —  The Braves have reportedly made the largest free-agent strike of the offseason so far, agreeing to terms on a one-year contract with former American League MVP Josh Donaldson.  The contract is said to guarantee Donaldson the same $23MM salary he earned in 2018 …

Cubs face Friday deadline to tender contract to Addison Russell  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Addison Russell's status will be further defined Friday night when the Cubs must decide whether to tender contracts to their suspended shortstop and seven other arbitration-eligible players.

Tigers still free-agent shopping as offseason market hits a lull  —  Some people worked during the Thanksgiving break.  Any such list would include the Tigers front office, which, apart from Thursday's break, stayed by the phones, maybe trading conversation with agents or perhaps with an interested trade partner or two.

MLB rumors: Red Sox's Nathan Eovaldi to the bullpen for ‘Aroldis Chapman money’?  —  One of the best arms on the free-agent market this winter belongs to right-hander Nathan Eovaldi.  —  Yes, Eovaldi has undergone Tommy John surgery twice, with the most recent operation coming in 2016 when he was with the Yankees.

MLB wants $5,000 donation returned after U.S. Senate candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith's controversial comments  —  About that donation, senator.  Major League Baseball would like it back.  —  MLB has requested that a Mississippi Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate return the $5,000 donation …

Report: Braves, Twins, Rangers, and Padres are in on Sonny Gray  —  Yankees right-hander Sonny Gray is reportedly up for grabs this season after a disappointing performance in the Bronx, and there appears to be no shortage of suitors vying for the starter's services.