With Major League Baseball’s annual winter meetings beginning on Sunday in Las Vegas, NV, the heat on the hot stove is sure to be turned up to high over the next five days. Let’s take a look at what’s currently simmering.

Machado Has “At Least” Six Suitors At The Moment

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted on Saturday that free-agent third baseman/shortstop Manny Machado is garnering heavy interest from around the league.

“It’s not just the Phillies, White Sox, and Yankees that have interest in [Machado],” Rosenthal wrote. “One rival executive hears at least three other teams are in the mix and will meet with Machado’s agent […] at the winter meetings.”

Machado, 26, hit .297/.367/.538 for the Orioles and Dodgers last season with 37 home runs, 107 runs batted in, 35 doubles, and just 104 strikeouts in 632 plate appearances.

The Miami native spent the first six-plus years of his career in Baltimore, owning 162-game averages of 30 homers, 87 RBI, and 38 doubles with a 116 OPS+ rating. Spotrac has set Machado’s speculative value on the open market at six years, $160.7 million.

Cahill Drawing Interest

After Jon Heyman of FanCred Sports confirmed earlier this week that free agent starter Trevor Cahill was “drawing interest” from a handful of teams, he tweeted on Saturday that the 30-year-old right-hander “has multi-year opportunities”.

From 2009 through 2013, Cahill was almost exclusively a starting pitcher for Oakland (2009-2011) and Arizona (2012-14), owning a 3.89 earned-run average, 1.331 WHIP, 1.72 strikeouts-to-walks, and 105 ERA+ rating over 154 appearances (153 starts).

Beginning in 2014, Cahill began being used as a reliever, eventually transitioning into the role full-time (4.71 ERA in 108 appearances; 219.2 innings). In 2017 the Padres used him as a starter before trading him to the Royals mid-season, who moved him back to the bullpen.

Back in Oakland for the 2018 season, Trevor Cahill experienced a resurgence, pitching to a 7-4 record with a 3.76 ERA, 1.191 WHIP, 2.44 strikeouts-to-walks, and a 110 ERA+ rating in 21 appearances (20 starts).

The 30-year-old made $1.5 million with the Athletics last season and will likely receive a modest-to-substantial raise for his services moving forward.

Reds and Gennett Don’t Appear Close on Extension

Mark Sheldon of MLB.com is reporting that extension talks between the Cincinnati Reds and All-Star second baseman Scooter Gennett have been “very, very quiet”. Dick Williams, the Reds’ president of baseball operations spoke to Sheldon regarding the matter.

“I wouldn’t expect it before the calendar turns [to 2019]. There’s too much up in the air in terms of roster construction going forward,” Williams said. “Flexibility is important to us. We will be careful about a lot of extensions.”

Gennett, 28, hit .310/.357/.490 in 2018 (638 plate appearances) with 23 home runs, 92 RBI, 30 doubles, and a 124 OPS+ rating, making his first All-Star team in his sixth MLB season.

After a breakout rookie campaign in 2013 with the Brewers (.324/.356/.479 in 230 plate appearances), the Sarasota, FL native spent three more seasons in Milwaukee, slashing .272/.311/.411 despite occasional options to Triple-A and trips to the disabled list.

Since being claimed off waivers by the Reds (March 2017), Gennett appears to have blossomed as a ballplayer, hitting .303/.351/.508 with 50 homers, 189 RBI, 52 doubles, and a 124 OPS+ rating over two seasons.

Scooter Gennett is entering his final arbitration-eligible season after making $5.7 million in 2018. MLB Trade Rumors is projecting him to earn $10.7 million through arbitration in 2019.