Baseball games may have ended, but a whole new season has begun. As soon as a new champion is crowned, owners and general managers look for free agents to bolster their roster and make their team the winners the following year. 

            As this year’s version of free agency mayhem begins, there are some key players who should draw extra attention from multiple teams. 

            The biggest fish in the sea has whirled in the same place for his entire career. He has anchored a superstar-studded New York Yankees lineup for the past nine years. 

            The team needs to keep their second baseman Robinson Cano if it has any hope of making deeper playoff runs in the next few years. 

            Cano reportedly wants a 10-year contract worth more than $300 million. The Yankees have already been burned once by signing an apparent treasure to a lucrative contract. They also need to add or hold onto other players in order to remain competitive. 

            That deal would keep Cano in New York until he is 41. He has been durable since 2007, playing in at least 159 games in each season from that year to the present. Few teams could even afford to give him what he wants, and fewer could keep the other players they need if they were to add Cano. 

            However, all teams would benefit from his offensive skills. Most significantly, Cano led all second basemen last year in home runs and RBI’s, according to mlb.com.

            It would be stupid for the Yankees to bank on Cano that much for that long, but they should sign him for less time and money so they can focus on replacing the aging stars they have at other positions.   

            The Yankees’ rival also has a big move to make in the off-season. The Boston Red Sox need to be careful of letting outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury leave the only franchise he has known in his big-league career. 

            Ellsbury was integral in both the 2007 and 2013 championships, which the Red Sox won. He led the league last season in stolen bases, which brings speed to a lineup that has just recently started using speed as a weapon for generating runs. 

            His downfall is his durability. A rib injury and a shoulder injury have caused Ellsbury to miss significant time in 2010 and in 2012. Furthermore, he played through a swollen left hand in the playoffs, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. 

            At 30 years old, the outfielder looks great on the field but is questionable on paper. He will likely draw big contract offers in addition to what the Red Sox will offer him. Yet, the team that gives him too long of a contract could be writhing in pain as the Red Sox have already seen Ellsbury do after his serious injuries. 

            His aggressive play is impressive but his durability will dictate how long his contract goes. At least, it should. 

            Don’t overlook the pitching in free agency, either. Multiple hurlers are available but the most important is Ubaldo Jimenez of the Cleveland Indians. He’s young, he’s on the rise, and he turned in one of the best performances of his career last year. 

            Jimenez went 13-9 with a 3.30 earned run average in over 180 innings pitched. He also totaled almost 200 strikeouts, according to espn.com.

            With his talent, he could stay in Cleveland and help the Tribe reach the playoffs again. Additionally he would be affordable to a team that does not have a high payroll. By signing Jimenez, the Indians would get a quality pitcher for a low price. They simply do not have the money to land a free agent like Clayton Kershaw, who will hit the market next year.

            If Jimenez leaves, he could easily join a contending team as a solid starter in the middle of a rotation. 

            Naturally, there are many more players on the market this winter. But in this cold season while baseball sleeps, these are the hottest commodities upon which teams need to wisely spend their money.