As officials from all 30 Major League teams gather at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., next week, Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik figures to be in the midst of a lot of discussions. “You want to make your club better any way you can,” said Zduriencik.

For all their activity last winter, the 2013 Indians became a playoff team largely on the might of the under-the-radar moves, and GM Chris Antonetti will have to come up with more of the same to build a winner for 2014. Fortunately, he’s not in need of another 24-win improvement. And fortunately, his pantry isn’t barren in a winter in which the market prices have skyrocketed.

Robinson Cano’s new Mariners teammates were delighted to learn the former Yankees star had agreed to a reported 10-year, $240 million deal.

A’s officials will head to the annual Winter Meetings on Sunday with a short to-do list. Oakland already has been busy addressing many of the club’s offseason needs, but strengthening the farm system could be on the agenda.

For Angels fans, there’s legitimate reason for anxiety heading into the Winter Meetings, which kick off from Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Monday. Under general manager Jerry Dipoto, these have been about as eventful as can be.

Third base may be consuming most of the Marlins’ attention at the Winter Meetings next week, but the club is close to securing a two-year deal with free-agent first baseman Garrett Jones, putting Logan Morrison’s future in Miam in question.

Nelson Mandela’s appreciation of sports as a unifying symbol was well-documented. Mandella also appeared at Yankee Stadium in June 1990, during his visit to the U.S. soon after being freed from prison, and proclaimed: “I am a Yankee!”

The Rangers, seeking a backup catcher for Geovany Soto, expected to complete a deal Friday with free agent J.P. Arencibia, according to a baseball source.

Pipeline Inbox: MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo breaks down some of the best high school arms available in next June’s Draft.

Robinson Cano reportedly has agreed to a 10-year, $240 million contract with the Mariners, which would be the third-most lucrative contract in Major League history.

The Angels signed veteran lefty specialist Clay Rapada to a Minor League contract with a Spring Training invite on Thursday.

As Robinson Cano winged it to the West Coast to talk with the Mariners, Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said that his club has not quit on the idea of retaining the All-Star second baseman.

After successfully completing his physical, Jarrod Saltalamacchia joined Miami on Friday, when the team formally announced the three-year deal on Friday, three days after reaching agreement on a contract.

The task of rebuilding a World Series winner has been an elusive one for more than a dozen years, with not a single successful defense and only one champion returning to the Fall Classic the following season since 2001.

A trade involving pitcher Brett Anderson seems inevitable for the A’s. Oakland has a surplus of arms for its Major League staff, and the 25-year-old left-hander might be an asset the Athletics move to help restock the farm system.

Robinson Cano, widely considered the top free agent on this year’s market, reportedly traveled Thursday to Seattle for a visit with the Mariners. Also, a number of deals for bullpen arms went down, with Edward Mujica’s two-year deal with Boston leading the way.

To all the people who care about the Seattle Mariners, signing free-agent second baseman Robinson Cano would be a huge deal, a franchise-changing deal. It would impact an entire sport, prompting other free agents to perhaps take a second look at Seattle.