Another season of MLB baseball is in the books, and congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals for their extremely impressive and dramatic run to the World Series title. Now teams can settle down for the offseason, which looks to be full of very interesting free agent action and team transactions.

Here is a quick rundown of what has already happened this offseason, as well as some storylines to follow going forward.

ALREADY DONE

• The biggest headline so far is that the Red Sox and manager Terry Francona have parted ways. Francona brought Boston two World Series titles, but it seems there was a good bit of mutual agreement that it was time to part ways.
• Additionally, the Red Sox lost "whiz kid" general manager Theo Epstein to the Chicago Cubs. Epstein turned the Red Sox organization around in a sweeping and efficient manner, and if there's any other team in need of a swift makeover, it's probably the Cubbies.
• Tony La Russa promptly retired after winning the World Series, ending one of the best managerial tenures in baseball history.
• The Yankees managed to extend CC Sabathia's contract an extra year and $30 million dollars relatively free of hassle. Sabathia had the option to end his deal with the Yankees and explore free agency, which really would have put them in quite a bind.

Where will Prince Fielder's bat end up?

Photo by Steve Paluch, used under creative commons license.

• The main question on most people's mind is where Albert Pujols will sign. Pujols has been one of, if not the best hitter in the league for years now, and he has the opportunity to seek a new deal outside of St. Louis if he so chooses.
• Equally intriguing is the free agency of Prince Fielder, who may be more likely to seek a new team than Pujols. Fielder is a beast of a hitter who could help any number of teams in need of a first baseman or DH.
• How will Theo Epstein rebuild the Cubs? It's a virtual certainty that Epstein takes a look at both Pujols and Fielder - regardless, however, moves are sure to be made.
• Where will C.J. Wilson sign? The Rangers' Ace is the best starting pitcher on the market by a wide margin, though some think he's being overvalued. Still, he may help a number of different starting rotations.
• Which team will bid highest for Yu Darvish? The Japanese pitcher puts up phenomenal numbers, and MLB scouts drool over his abilities. However, other Japanese pitchers in recent years have disappointed in America, which means it will be interesting which teams are willing to gamble.

In fact, this offseason has so much dramatic potential, you may want to lock up your Cable Television MLB package for next season now, to be sure that you won't miss any of next season's early action. There are sure to be some new looks on popular teams, which could make for a lot of early season intrigue.

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