The temperatures may be dropping, but MLB's offseason action is just starting to heat up. Following the news announced earlier this week that the Florida Marlins would be shipping Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to the Boston Red Sox for a trio of prospects, the Fish are making headlines again with the news that Carlos Delgado is on his way to the New York Mets for Mike Jacobs and a minor league pitcher. The Mets, of course, already sent Mike Cameron to San Diego for Xavier Nady, and are said to still be interested in bringing Manny Ramirez to New York. Not to be outdone, the Phillies and White Sox are said to have reached a deal to swap Jim Thome for Aaron Rowand. Rowand will likely find his place in the middle of an outfield that already contains powerhitters Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu. The acquisition of Thome likely means that either Frank Thomas or Paul Konerko - if not both - has played his last game in a White Sox uniform.

Especially interesting are these moves on the part of Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. Florida appears to be on a fire sale to rival the one that followed their World Series win in '97. Although offloading Lowell and Delgado will considerably reduce Florida's payroll while simultaneously making them a considerably younger team - Lowell is 31, while Delgado is 33 - sending Josh Beckett to Boston seems to make little sense. Beckett is only 25, and his salary should be considered negligible for a former World Series MVP. Should Florida choose not to re-sign A.J. Burnett, they'll be looking to Cy Young runner-up Dontrelle Willis to carry the load for a young team.

And, along with the confirmed deals, the race to sign closer Billy Wagner is still on, but the Mets look to be frontrunners in that deal. Wagner is holding out to see if any other offers come in, but the acquisitions of Delgado and Nady - along with talk of the potential acquisition of Ramirez - have to be making a move to Shea sound pretty enticing.

» Delgado and Thome headed to new teams [Yahoo! Sports]

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