Here it is, a rainy California Monday, football is down to its final four teams before the Super Bowl, and the basketball and hockey seasons have reached their halfway point. But also, the first spring training baseball games are one month from today, and two months from now, the opening series between the Dodgers and Padres in Korea will be over. Still, there are a lot of unsigned free agents out there, with pitchers and catchers due to report in Arizona and Florida in just a couple of weeks.

They call baseball's off-season the 'hot stove', but apparently the fuel for that stove is still buried under a foot-and-a-half of snow, and no one seems to know why the fires have not been stoked aplenty. If you break down all of still-unsigned free agents by position, you would have quite a team, and again, with workouts scheduled very soon. The Dodgers got the proverbial ball rolling when they signed Japanese superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to mega-deals in December, which was said at the time to open the free agent floodgates. Some new deals have trickled in since, but there are still several players who don't know where their next multi-million dollar paycheck will be coming from, and several teams still with holes in their lineups, rotations, and several different positions.

So while watching the rain, and counting down til spring, here's our remaining All-Free Agent Team...

Starting pitching: We'll pick a five-man rotation which would be pretty formidable against any top team out there right now. The ace would be Blake Snell, most recently of the Padres, who is reportedly asking for a 200-million dollar deal. That could be the reason there have so-far been no takers. Sonny Gray signed with St. Louis, Aaron Nola re-upped with the Phillies, and Marcus Stroman agreed to two years with the Yankees, leaving Jordan Montgomery and Brandon Woodruff to follow Snell in our free-agent rotation. It gets a little tricky after that. Clayton Kershaw is a free agent, but will either retire, re-sign with the Dodgers, or (gasp) possibly stay close to his Dallas home and sign with the World Champion Texas Rangers. He also had shoulder surgery and will be out until around the All-Star break, so he doesn't have to make a decision soon. We'll take venerable arms (and both former Dodgers) Zack Greinke and Rich Hill to round out our starting five. Others out there include Mike Clevinger, Corey Kluber, Johnny Cueto, Alex Wood, and James Paxton (reports today say he's close to a one-year deal with guess who, the Dodgers).

Closer: Hector Neris. Neris struggled as a closer with the Phillies before turning into a reliable late-inning guy with the Astros last year. Josh Hader was the big prize, but just landed a five-year, 95-million dollar deal with Houston. Lefty still-somewhat-of-a-flamethrower Aroldis Chapman agreed to a one-year deal with Pittsburgh today, fanning the flames a little bit. David Robertson and Ryan Brasier, who had a stellar second half as a setup man in L-A last year, are other free agent closer options.

Catcher: Gary Sanchez. He came up as a Yankee slugger, but his career has gone downhill ever since. He's 31 now but can still hit the long ball (19 homers in only 240 at-bats last year). There's not a lot of ripe fruit on the free agent catching tree, but Mike Zunino and Yasmani Grandal are waiting for their phones to ring.

First base: Rhys Hoskins. The Sacramento native hit 30 homers with the Phillies in 2022, but missed all of last year after tearing a ligament in his left knee during a spring training game. Philadelphia has moved Bryce Harper to first base now, leaving Hoskins without a job. If Hoskins is too much of a gamble, Carlos Santana, Brandon Belt, C.J. Cron, and Trey Mancini are other viable options.

Second base: Whit Merrifield. There is some speed, but also plenty of age, at this position. Merrifield is 35, and so is Elvis Andrus. Kolten Wong is 33, Adam Frazier 32, and Josh Harrison is 36—all are looking for contracts. The youngster out there is 31 year-old Hanser Alberto, who became a fan and player favorite with the Dodgers a couple of years ago, even pitching several times in lopsided games.

Shortstop: Tim Anderson. Always solid albeit sometimes controversial with the White Sox, Anderson is unemployed at the moment. The Sox declined his option, and there were reports soon after that the Angels were interested, but that never materialized. He was an All-Star in 2019 but struggled in the last half of '23. Other free agent shortstops include Amed Rosario (who finished last year with the Dodgers), Adalberto Mondesi (who is only 28 and can run like the wind when healthy, which hasn't been often), and 37 year-old Giants legend Brandon Crawford (who is likely retiring).

Third base: Matt Chapman. One of the top free agents out there, the former Oakland Athletic and Toronto Blue Jay is more known as a top defender. His sporadic power is freaking out potential suitors, though, so the megamillions have not been there as of yet. Bigger bats come with some miles on them. Josh Donaldson and Evan Longoria are entering their age 38 seasons. Justin Turner is 39, but could still hook on with a club as a backup infielder or DH.

Left field: Joc Pederson. The 32 year-old former Dodger, Cub, Giant, Brave, and Norcal Longhorn (summer collegiate baseball) hit 15 home runs last year—far fewer than the 36 he slugged with the Dodgers in 2019, so it will be interesting to see how many million dollars he'll get. Lourdes Gurriel signed with Arizona, so he's off the board, but David Peralta and Tommy Pham, who are both 36, are also available.

Center field: Cody Bellinger. He is the top hitter remaining on the market, and the fact that he is still available suggests either that he is asking too much, several teams are bidding for his services, or something else like an injury is spooking teams away. After several down years following an MVP season, Bellinger batted .307 with 26 home runs, 97 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases with the Cubs, where he could still re-sign. Other CF options include Adam Duvall, Michael A. Taylor, and Jackie Bradley, Junior.

Right field: Jorge Soler. Two of the top free agent right fielders have signed with the Dodgers—Teoscar Hernandez, who was with Seattle last season, and Jason Heyward, who found a home in L-A. Hernandez will likely switch to left field, with Heyward getting more at-bats in right, with Mookie Betts at second base. There's a question if Soler can still play the outfield or if he needs to be a DH now, but the money truck is probably not backing into Randall Grichuk, Wil Myers, or Kole Calhoun's driveway anytime soon. Not with a lot of money, anyway.

Designated hitter: J.D. Martinez. This is an easy one, and a name that should be off the board already. It's definitely possible that Martinez has the upper hand here. He batted .271 with 33 HRs and 103 RBIs with the Dodgers last season, but L-A upgraded to some guy named Ohtani. Since no glove work is involved, DH is a spot you can use almost any hitter, but for power, there's a dropoff after Martinez. Soler, Turner, Donaldson, or someone like Daniel Vogelbach or Jesse Winker remain.

This lineup may not win the World Series, but it could still win a lot of games and make the playoffs. Just doing a little scribbling, how about a batting order of Anderson, Bellinger, and Martinez, Soler in the cleanup spot, then Hoskins and Chapman. Merrifield hits seventh, then Sanchez, and Pederson. This team is a too right-handed, though. Only Belli and Joc bat from the left side. Oh, and if you need a utility player, Kike Hernandez is out there, too. Pitchers and catchers may report in just a few weeks, but there's still a lot of money to hand out between now and then.

Decking those Halls: Baseball announces their Hall of Fame class tomorrow (Tuesday), and there could be several inductees named. Adrian Beltre is thought of as a shoe-in in his first year of eligibility. Other possibilities include Todd Helton, Joe Mauer, Billy Wagner, and Gary Sheffield. The announcement will be made on MLB Network at 3pm Pacific Time.

Rest for the weary?: At least they are announcing it in advance this time. LeBron James will not suit up for the Lakers Tuesday against the Clippers because of 'soreness' in his left ankle. Can we at least tell the truth and say he wants or 'needs' the night off? The game is nationally televised on TNT, but is a Clippers home game, meaning its the Clipper fans who bought tickets and get ripped off. The Lakers just concluded a stretch of nine out of ten games at home, and James missed the lone game at Utah with the same excuse (ahem, reason). He is 39, and still extremely productive, but there are days when there is no game on the schedule, you know.

More exemplary behavior: While UCLA was in the midst of blowing a big lead and losing to Arizona on Saturday, Bruins coach Mick Cronin yelled an expletive at one of the officials, and was whistled for a technical foul. The result was four free throws for the Wildcats. The shooter made all four and tied the game. You have to wonder how Cronin would have reacted if one of his players did that? Not cool.

N E 1 4 10S?: We're halfway through the Australian Open tennis championships, in what has been a very entertaining event. There are a lot of names you may not be familiar with, but several top seeds have either fallen, or have had extremely tough early matches. Men's top seed Novak Djokovic is seeking to win his 25th career grand slam title, which would be a new record. Women's #1 Iga Swiatek has been beaten, making four-seed American Coco Gauff the favorite. The tournament is a day longer this year, starting last Sunday—something the French Open already does. With positive results, we could even see Saturday starts in the future, making the event 16 days instead of two weeks.

Parting shot: Just as Djokovic was about to serve for his second round win, someone in the stands shouted, "Get vaccinated, mate!". Djokovic definitely heard it and was not pleased, but just rolled his eyes and then took a couple of steps before hitting the winner. Announcers didn't make any comments.