It's the off season in baseball and regardless of where we live, we're shivering.

Where's all the action? There was a time (not long ago I might add) that the end of the World Series would mean a flurry of activity in the great game we all love. By Thanksgiving we were fairly full and satisfied with the dishes we had been served. There was always room for more of course, but at least we had been through the appetizers and we could wait patiently for the main course. Or even the side dishes. Not this year. This year if you're like me you feel like Oliver Twist. Once a small little deal is announced you feel like going up to the baseball moguls with cupped hands saying "more please." I want more. So do you, I know you do.

Peter J. Franklin ruled the roost in Cleveland talk radio. He was cantankerous (I love that word-cantankerous). It says so much more than "ornery." We all get ornery. But good ol Pete was flat out cantankerous. "Mr. Know it All" would call Pete and start some off the wall rumor he heard at the barber shop about 6 Cleveland Indian players going to Atlanta for Tom Glavine or something like that. Pete would be off and running for 4 hours. It was fantastic. Hours of ridiculous rumors. Let me come clean right here, right now. There were times I would stray. There were nights I turned the dial to the soothing voice of Pat Sheridan on a station in Milwaukee. There. I admitted it. Finally, after all these years. So sorry Pete. Pat Sheridan had a rich and resonant voice. He talked a great deal about potential lineups for the coming season. I always liked that. Where are they now when I need them?

Bill's my barber. I drive 40 minutes each way just so Bill can cut whatever hair I have left. I'm in his chair for what, 15 minutes? 20 at the most. But in those 20 minutes we talk non-stop baseball. Like seasoned surgeons, we work on one another's brains. We share information. He gets lots of people in that chair. They feed him gossip. Rumors. He feeds them to me. I dismiss them immediately. It's a great quarter hour. If you don't have one, I urge you to find a good ol fashioned barber. Not a hair stylist, a barber. Even if you don't need a haircut. Go get a trim. Barbers are great conversationalists. Just promise me you won't believe what they say.

I feel better now. Thank you. So where's the action you ask? Two factors weigh heavily on our chilling hot stove. First, the economy has impacted the budgets of every baseball team. Yes, even the Yankees. (Although their impact might be a scratch compared to the full fledged hemorrhage being felt by some clubs.) Clubs have less money to spend and they are taking their time and planning the best way to spend that money. Players who have waited patiently for their Free Agent years or their Arbitration eligibility might be stranded at the door to the vault without a key. Players that have worked their entire career for at least one trip to Fort Knox may have to settle for Hard Knocks. Think of this. The average player salary is an eyelash short of
3 million dollars. An arbitration eligible player certainly thinks he is worth more than the average. His agent has prepared reams of stat sheets and anecdotal notes on why his client is worth as much or more than a guy with comparable service time. The team has counter statistics showing how many times the guy struck out with the bases loaded and on and on and on. Tal Smith had a great business representing baseball teams in arbitration cases. He would be hired to slay the dragon so the team brass wouldn't have to denigrate their own players. It was smart business.

The second reason we are seeing a lull in the action is the emergence of the younger players. Young players with little to no service time are taking the roster spots of older veterans. They are less expensive, to be sure. But many are highly talented, highly motivated, and highly regarded by their clubs. "Hey, if we are going to re-build our club, why not build with younger guys?" It's difficult to argue with those thoughts. Frankly, fans really do enjoy watching the energy and promise of a young player they have been reading and hearing about for a couple of years. Young players might even sell tickets. Obtaining draft choices for Free Agent players is becoming very popular.

So where do we go from here? First, watch the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis. There will be signings and trades. But the intrigue for me comes with the Rule 5 draft. Players not protected by their teams are eligible to be selected by another club for a paltry price. The player must remain on the roster of his new team for the entire season.--Therein lies the catch. If the player doesn't stick on his new team's roster, he may be sold back to his original team for half the purchase price. There could be some Rule 5 action at the Winter Meetings.

Listening. Lots of listening and talking is going on right now as you read this. Names are being discussed among clubs. Just yesterday arbitration eligible Cleveland catcher Kelly Shoppach was rescued from the Indians and dispatched to Tampa Bay where they are happy to have him and ready to meet his arbitration proposal head on. In return the Indians will receive a (you guessed it) Player To Be Named in December. He won't be expensive. You can go to Vegas and bet confidently with that fact.

Will the Blue Jays trade Doc Halladay? Halladay has said he will not accept a trade following the conclusion of spring training. Why wouldn't Toronto trade him now and get the most for his true value? Or is it better to get his Type A draft choices from the team that signs him as a Free Agent? Good question. It's especially relevant in a time when inexpensive and young players (draft selections) are in such great demand.

What happens to Adrian Gonzalez? Do the Padres ship him off to Boston and get a boatload of players in return? The type of players that can really jump start the Padres renewal under former Red Sox front office executive Jed Hoyer? Can Kyle Blanks move to first base and provide the offense required of that position? The trading of Gonzalez was an option in my Rotowire column last season when I wrote about Blanks. The Padres will be tempted. Hoyer knows the Red Sox system and their players. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I'll be writing about the Hot Stove as it goes from frigid to warm to smoking. There will be deals we can all discuss. They will have fantasy impact and they will have impact on the standings. The Yankees won't stand pat. The Red Sox will be trying to catch them. The Phillies will fill some blatant holes. And the rich will get richer. The second tier will remain the second tier. But we will enjoy it all from the warmth of our stoves.

My hair is getting long. It's time for me to make a pilgrimage to Bill the Barber. I won't believe a word he says.