The Major League Baseball season is far-and-away the best six-month stretch of the year, but there is something exciting about the early offseason that can't be replicated during the dog days of summer. Even the madness surrounding the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline is dampened by expectations and real-time performance.
Meanwhile, there is something fun and uninhibited about offseason trade rumors. If in-season trade rumors are a sleek sports car, offseason trade rumors are a souped-up offroad vehicle. There is more freedom involved; even if your general manager blows a hole in the middle of your lineup, he has another four months to patch it up.