Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork. Rob Ramage Jersey .com) - There is no worse month on the baseball calendar than January. Yes, the Hall of Fame announcement comes and that is always good for some debate, but other than that ... nothing. And thats probably a good thing because with the newly formed College Football Playoff and the NFL postseason in full swing, baseball is really on the back burner in the sports pantheon. More so than usual, anyway. Regardless, it certainly makes for a boring time of the year if you are covering the sport. And while we still may be less than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, there are still some big questions that need to be answered. For instance ... WHERE IS MAX SCHERZER GOING TO WIND UP? This may have been the biggest question heading into the offseason and here we are on Jan. 14 and still have no idea how this is going to play out. The process was likely slowed by the notion floated from Scherzers agent, Scott Boras, that it could take up to $200 million to land the former AL Cy Young Award winner. Still and all, its probably the same teams you initially thought would be in the mix for Scherzer that are still in the running, despite statements from both the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers that they were no longer interested. Given Boras past relationship with the Washington Nationals, youd have to think they could be a factor. I thought all along he would wind up in the Bronx, but now I am not so sure. However, it is starting to sound like the Tigers could once again be a factor, which could then lead them to move David Price. And if that happens, it could be a wild few weeks. One team that may be laying in the weeds, though, is the St. Louis Cardinals. They normally dont delve into this type of contract, but it does make some sense. Scherzer is from St. Louis and the Cards have a ton of injury concerns in that rotation. Plus Jon Lester going to Chicago may have upped the ante for the Cardinals. WILL THE RED SOX ADD ANOTHER STARTER? Speaking of Lester, the Red Sox failed to re-sign him and have never really addressed the top of their rotation. And if they werent willing to go over $130 million or so for Lester, it makes zero sense to think theyd do it for Scherzer. Now the Red Sox added some depth to their rotation this winter, bringing in the likes of Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson. Its a nice group of No. 3 pitchers, but theres no real ace in the mix. Should Scherzer find his way back to Detroit, dont be surprised to see the Red Sox get involved in a potential Price blockbuster. Righty James Shields is still out there, too, and likely biding his time to offer his services to the losers of the Scherzer sweepstakes. WHO IS GOING TO PLAY SHORTSTOP FOR THE METS? Since the final game of the 2014 season, the New York Mets have been linked to almost every shortstop in the league. Yet here we are almost a month away from spring training and the odds-on favorite to be the teams Opening Day shortstop is once again either Wilmer Flores or Ruben Tejada. A Troy Tulowitzki deal was probably always a pipe dream, but the Mets failed to land a Jed Lowrie or Asdrubal Cabrera. The fact they were in on Ben Zobrist last week tells you, though, that they are looking to fill that spot. There are some options left for them. Rafael Furcal is still available, but at age 37, is he any better an option than what the Mets have in-house? If the Mets do truly want a shortstop, why not just give the Toronto Blue Jays a call and ask about Jose Reyes? The wear and tear from that turf is robbing him of the thing that once made him so electric. The Mets have the pieces to get a deal done. Isnt it something to explore at least? Or maybe they do actually believe in Flores? ARE THE PHILLIES DONE WHEELING AND DEALING? One of the busier teams this offseason has been the Philadelphia Phillies. They finally cut ties with longtime shortstop Jimmy Rollins and may be ready to do the same with both Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard, especially the latter. Finding a taker for Hamels shouldnt be that hard, even with the $90 million- plus still owed to him. Hamels is an ace. Any team would want him. For the Phils, its a matter of what you are getting back. Like we mentioned earlier, the Red Sox are a team that could make a move, as well as a team like San Diego. Hamels is from San Diego and despite all the other moves they have made this offseason, the Padres probably still arent a playoff team in the NL. Getting Hamels would change that. Now the Phillies unloading Howard and his $50 million is a different story. The former NL MVP may not be as feared as he once was, but he still slugged 23 home runs and drove in 95 runs last year. However, he only hit .223 and struck out 190 times. Still, there could be a market for him, provided the Phils eat a ton of that salary. IS THE GAME GOING TO SPEED UP? The owners meetings are taking place this week in Arizona, the final ones presided over by outgoing commissioner Bud Selig, and the biggest topic on the agenda is the effort to speed up these games. Its probably unlikely that a pitch clock is going to be implemented anytime soon, but there could be some tweaks to speed up the game, particularly in regards to the replay process. Far too often last season, managers would take a nice little stroll out to an umpire and stay there until he got word from his dugout if he should challenge a play. One of the changes that could be made is that once a manager leaves the dugout, that automatically triggers his challenge. Another pace of play discussion will center around the experiment MLB used in the Arizona Fall League. A hitter was required to keep one foot in the batters box at all times with exceptions for foul balls, wild pitches and timeouts. With no current major league rule to deter hitters from stepping out of the box, they are free to stroll away after every pitch. With this rule, if a player leaves the box completely, he can be penalized with a strike. Ugh. Spring training cant come soon enough. Cale Makar Avalanche Jersey .J. -- Patrick Sharp is on one of those streaks. Lanny McDonald Avalanche Jersey . The 24-year-old Raley was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA for Chicago in his first two career starts after being called up from Iowa on Aug. 7. He was optioned to Iowa on Monday after losing 3-0 to Cincinnati in Chicago on Sunday. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/authentic-colin-wilson-avalanche-jersey/ .J. -- The New Jersey Devils are so bad in shootouts, coach Pete DeBoer doesnt mind seeing his team take chances in the five-minute overtime.Criticizing NHL officiating is like picking low-hanging fruit. Every night we can assemble a collection of video replay evidence to shine a spotlight on missed or questionable calls. Such is the life of an NHL official. However, Thursday night in Pittsburgh featured an oddity - a very rare example of a minor penalty being rescinded. A case where something appeared to happen actually didnt and at least one of the two officials assigned to this game was 100 per cent sure it didnt. As our video shows (click here to watch the video), L.A. Kings forward Jarret Stoll was tagged for tripping as Pittsburghs Brandon Sutter went down inside the blue line. Stoll argued the call, but was swiftly directed to the penalty box by Greg Kimmerley who eventually waived Stoll out of the box after consulting with fellow referee Steve Kozari. Its clear a mistake was made and this isnt the first time on-ice officials have rescinded a penalty. However, a similar scenario almost always includes a high-sticking infraction when a teammate has caused the foul, as recognized by one of the games four officials. This wasnt that case. This was a tripping call the Penguins might argue shouldnt have been called back. As it turns out, Pittsburgh won the game and this isolated play had no impact on the outcome. However, while NHL officials shouldnt be beaten down for getting it right, some around the league worry about the precedent of this overturned call from now on. The games decision makers have worked hard at protecting the aspect of human error when it comes to NHL officiating. Of course, its the goal of every official to get it right, but those opposed to additional video review believe the discretion of the officials is traditionally an important piece of the fabric of the game. Perhaps a blown call in Wednesdays game between the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals (click here to watch the video) raised the level of sensitivity in the NHLs officiating department. The Wings beat the Caps 4-2 after having a Drew Miller goal disallowed based on goaltender interference, though it was clear via video replay that Braden Holtby simply fell while scrambling to get back to his crease. This one should have been called back. Its unreasonable to overreact and sugggest these examples are going to force NHL general managers to re-write the rulebook. Nikita Zadorov Avalanche Jersey. But its likely these same GMs will take a much closer look at it the next time video review or a coachs challenge is tabled for discussion. Theres always a next time. Educating On Ebola To no surprise, the National Hockey League has an Infectious Disease Committee and recently sent an email to all clubs primarily related to the Ebola outbreak. But it also included steps and precautions to be taken to avoid certain infectious flu viruses, particularly during the fall flu season. By the sounds of things inside the St. Louis Blues dressing room, this memo was received a tad late. An infectious bacteria that leveled several of the Blues players continues to plague the team, causing sore throat symptoms and swelling described as similar to the mumps. The flu is nothing new and annually makes its rounds throughout the NHL, but those impacted by this bug in St. Louis say theyve never seen anything like it. Green-er Pastures? Were just over four months until the NHL trade deadline, so theres plenty of time for the Washington Capitals and veteran defenceman Mike Green to work on a contract extension. However, with the offseason signings of blueliners Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik, many believe Green may be viewed as the odd man out given the $6.08 million cap space he takes up. Sources say to date, theres been little to no contract discussions with Green - who is averaging close to 20 minutes per game and ranks fourth in that category behind John Carlson, Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik. Mike is playing exceptionally well this season under Barry Trotz and is a very valuable part of our team and our organization, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan told The Dreger Report. Per club policy, we dont comment on player negotiations, but we are very happy with the way Mike is playing right now. Based on his experience and the high value placed on a quality defenceman with a right-handed shot, trade speculation surrounding Mike Green will most definitely intensify. And count the Detroit Red Wings among those teams with interest. Have a great weekend and look forward to the next edition of Insider Trading, Tuesday on SportsCentre and TSN.ca. ' ' '