The Major League Baseball offseason is in full swing with chatter hot and heavy as teams start to put their winter plans in place. Follow all the latest rumours on TSN.ca.

Gone So Soon?

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Brett Lawrie's first season with the Oakland Athletics could be his only one with the team. The San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser reports that the team's acquisition of Jed Lowrie earlier in the week could mean that Lawrie is dealt elsewhere.

The team insteads to have Lowrie play second next season with Marcus Semien remaining at shortstop. Lawrie, the incumbent second baseman, could move to third, where he played with the Toronto Blue Jays before being dealt to Oakland as part of the Josh Donaldson deal a year ago, or the team could look to deal another former Jay in Danny Valencia, who finished last season at third.

Slusser notes that both Lawrie and Valencia are drawing interest from around the league, but the return for Lawrie could be higher considering his age, versatility and ceiling.

Lawrie, 26 in January, appeared in 149 games with the A's last season, batting .260 with 16 home runs, 60 runs batted in and an OPS of .706.

Still Crushing on Davis?

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The Baltimore Orioles are still intent on retaining the services of free agent slugger Chris Davis.

MASN's Roch Kubatko reports that the team will not be scared off by the length of the contract that the 29-year-old first baseman can command.

Davis appeared in 160 games for the O's last season, leading the league in home runs with 47. He batted .262 with 117 RBI and an OPS of .923.

Kubatko believes that Davis could ask for a six or seven-year deal in the range of $24-to-26 million a season and this wouldn't make the Orioles balk.

The one issue with waiting on Davis for the Orioles could be watching other players the team could use, if they fail in their pursuit, getting snatched up by rivals.

 

Getting His Phil?

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Outfielder Jeff Francoeur could yet return to the Philadelphia Phillies.

MLB.com's Todd Zolecki reports that the 31-year-old veteran's leadership on a young team made a solid impression on the club last season, but desire for production could outweigh clubhouse culture when it comes to the direction the Phillies head.

Though they're expected to be out on high-ticket outfielders like Alex Gordon, Yoenis Cespedes and Jason Heyward, the team could look at other players in the same vein of Francoeur. Rajai Davis, Alejandro De Aza and Ryan Raburn are all capable of playing every day and would come at the fraction of a cost that a Justin Upton would command.

Francoeur is heading into his 12th season in the Majors. He appeared in 119 games last season, hitting .258 with 13 home runs and 45 RBI and an OPS of .718. He's twice reached the 100-RBI mark earlier in his career with the Atlanta Braves.