Now it gets interesting

All right St. Louis Cardinals, you had your 15 minutes. Now move over. It’s time for baseball’s second season to start.

I’m talking about the offseason. Free agency. Trades. Teams go from pretenders to contenders in the blink of an eye. It’s all just so exciting!

Now, to kick-off the offseason, let’s take a look at a few signings and trades that just might happen (but, you know, probably won’t):

1. Alfonso Soriano signs a contract with the Angels. The Phillies, White Sox and Cubs are all rumored to be interested in Soriano. But, at the end of the day, you’ve got to think the speedy leftfielder will end up in Los Angeles, which is a big market team with money to spend and the potential to win now. The Angels need protection for Vlad Guerero in their lineup. Soriano will provide that protection.

2. Pat Burrell to the Orioles. The Phillies seem desperate to unload Burrell. Desperate even enough to eat a big part of his contract, which is exactly what it will take. The Orioles could use Burrell at DH. (NOTE: Burrell has a no-trade clause, so that could be an issue).

3. Gary Sheffield to the Phillies. The Phils send the Yankees a couple prospects (maybe the same guys they got for Bobby Abreu) and Sheffield takes Burrell’s spot in leftfield and offers Ryan Howard some protection in the Phils lineup.

4. Manny Ramirez to Cleveland. Ramirez ends his career where he started it. The Indians get a guy who can help put them over the top. The Red Sox get Andy Marte and a pitching prospect.

5. Jason Schmidt to the Mets. Everyone always talks about Barry Zito signing in New York, but Schmidt is a more dominant pitcher when he’s healthy. And he’s the type of pitcher that, because he can bring some heat, will have more playoff success.

6. A-Rod stays in New York. He’s not going anywhere, so get over it.