As the final week of the 2018 MLB regular season winds to a close and we get set for another exciting postseason [url=http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-jacoby-ellsbury-jersey]Jacoby Ellsbury Jersey[/url] , it's never too early to start looking ahead to free agency.This year's free-agent class has been among the most anticipated in recent memory for years now, with young superstars Bryce Harper and Manny Machado headlining a star-studded group of players set to hit the open market.The rumor mill won't really kick into full swing until the annual Winter Meetings, but let's take a quick run through some early rumors surrounding some of the top names in this year's class. We've also predicted how this year's qualifying offers will shake out.Moving Parts on the Philadelphia Phillies InfieldMaikel FrancoRich Schultz/Getty ImagesThe Phillies were busy on the free-agent market last offseason, handing multi-year deals to Jake Arrieta, Carlos Santana, Tommy Hunter and Pat Neshek. This winter is expected to be equally busy, and an expected pursuit of top-tier free agent Manny Machado could have a ripple effect on the team's infield alignment.Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia wrote:"Recently, [manager Gabe] Kapler has used Santana at third as a way to improve the Phillies' outfield defense. With Santana at third, Rhys Hoskins can move from left field to his natural first base and Kapler can use a stronger defender in left."There are variables to consider when weighing the possibility of using Santana at third base full time. One is Manny Machado. The Phillies are going to make a free-agent run at him this winter. He would look good at third base, but he might want to play shortstop and the Phils would probably be open to that to get him. Another is Maikel Franco. He had some big downs and some big ups in 2018. Will the Phils keep him or look to deal him? The guess here is they will look to move him."Franco, 26, has posted a 105 OPS+ with 22 home runs and 68 RBI this season, and he has team control through the 2021 season.However, limited on-base skills (.314 OBP, 6.2 percent walk rate, per FanGraphs) and below-average defense (-12 DRS, -6.9 UZR/150, per FanGraphs) have limited him to 0.2 WAR.Still, he'd be an intriguing buy-low candidate for a team with the patience to try to unlock his full potential.Either way, there are enough moving parts on the Philadelphia infield to make this one of the more compelling storylines of free agency.Nelson Cruz Interested in Re-Signing with Seattle MarinersNelson CruzJayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images"He's happy in Seattle and wants to stay there," Nelson Cruz's agent Bryce Dixon told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. "He's hopeful we can work something out. From his perspective, he definitely wants to come back. He loves Seattle."Cruz, 38, is having another excellent season for Seattle with a 138 OPS+ and 36 home runs.In four seasons with the team, he's averaged 40 home runs and 102 RBI while posting a 148 OPS+, and he's been good for 16.9 WAR over the course of his four-year [url=http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-don-mattingly-jersey]http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-don-mattingly-jersey[/url] , $57 million deal.His advanced age makes anything beyond a one-year deal with a second-year mutual option unlikely, but it's hard to bet against another strong season given his consistent production.The Mariners have other factors to consider, though.An aging Robinson Cano might fit best at DH at this point in his career, but Cruz is also limited to DH duties, so there might not be an obvious spot for both players.Starting pitching also figures to be the primary focus of the offseason, so the team might opt to use the $14.25 million it paid Cruz this season to help add an impact arm.Cruz won't be eligible for a qualifying offer since he's already received one in his career, so that should help expand the market of interested teams.The Qualifying Offer MarketBryce HarperMark Brown/Getty ImagesMark Polishuk of MLBTradeRumors recently wrote a piece previewing the qualifying offer market. He broke the potential candidates into the following categories:"The Easy Calls":Patrick Corbin, Yasmani Grandal, Bryce Harper, Dallas Keuchel, Craig Kimbrel, A.J. Pollock,Elvis Andrus (opt-out) and Clayton Kershaw (opt-out)."The Borderline Cases":Michael Brantley, Charlie Morton, DJ LeMahieu and Justin Smoak (team option)."Probably Not":Adrian Beltre, Jed Lowrie, Nick Markakis, Hyun-Jin Ryu, David Price (opt-out)The qualifying offer figure was $17.4 million last winter and will likely sit around $18 million for this offseason.Cruz and Daniel Murphy are not eligible for an offer since they've already received one in their careers, while Machado, J.A. Happ and Cole Hamels can't be extended an offer since they were traded at midseason.So let's take a crack at predicting what will happen with those 17 players.Receives an Offer and Accepts:Charlie MortonReceives an Offer and Declines:Patrick Corbin, Yasmani Grandal, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw, Dallas Keuchel, Craig KimbrelDoesn't Receive an Offer: Adrian Beltre [url=http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-aroldis-chapman-jersey]Aroldis Chapman Jersey[/url] ,Michael Brantley, DJ LeMahieu, Jed Lowrie, Nick Markakis, A.J. Pollock, Hyun-Jin RyuOther:Andrus and Price (opt-in), Smoak (option exercised)Teams have five days after the conclusion of the World Series to extend qualifying offers to players, and players then have 10 days to decide whether to accept or reject, so it's always the first item on a lengthy checklist of notable offseason dates.Will Machado sign with the Phillies and cause an infield shakeup? Is Cruz part of the Seattle Mariners' future plans? How will the qualifying offer process impact his year's free-agent class?We're still more than a month away from the start of the offseason, but there are already plenty of fun talking points surrounding free agency.All stats courtesy of Baseball Referenceunless otherwise stated and accurate through Sept. 25. BOSTON (AP) — Chris Sale left the mound to a standing ovation and then waited along with anxious Red Sox fans while the Boston bullpen frittered away most of a five-run lead.Bases loaded in the sixth inning. Two runs.Bases loaded, nobody out in the seventh. The Yankees scored another.A leadoff home run by Aaron Judge in the ninth made it a one-run game.It was only after Craig Kimbrel struck out the last three New York batters that Sale could savor the first postseason win of his career, a 5-4 victory over Boston’s longtime rivals Friday night in Game 1 of the AL Division Series.“There’s no holding back now. It’s everything on the table, everything you’ve got,” Sale said after striking out eight and taking a four-hit shutout into the sixth. “I threw every pitch tonight like he was going to take the ball out of my hand after. You have to go up there and do what you have to do to get a win.”Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Saturday night, with Boston starting another pitcher trying to overcome a history of postseason struggles: left-hander David Price is 0-8 as a starter in the playoffs. He’ll face Yankees righty Masahiro Tanaka.“It’s a five-game series, and getting them to use the bullpen is a good thing,” Judge said. “We were able to scratch a couple of runs off them. We’ve got to build off that coming into tomorrow.”In the first playoff matchup between the teams since 2004, J.D. Martinez hit a three-run homer off J.A. Happ in the first. The 108-win Red Sox made it 5-0 in the third and then white-knuckled it as New York slowly chipped away after Sale left with two on and one out in the sixth.New York, which won 100 regular-season games plus the AL wild-card game against Oakland, got three singles and two walks in the sixth, scoring two before Brandon Workman — the only player on the Red Sox roster with a World Series ring — struck out Gleyber Torres to end the threat.The Yankees loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh but scored just one run. Boston manager Alex Cora used scheduled Game 3 starter Rick Porcello to get two outs in the eighth before turning to Kimbrel for a four-out save.“We almost caught them,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought we did a really good job of pecking away, a good job of giving ourselves opportunities, and just ran out of time there.”It was the first ALDS matchup between the clubs and the first in the postseason since the Red Sox staged an unprecedented rally from a 3-0 deficit in the 2004 AL Championship Series to advance and then won the World Series to end their 86-year dynasty of disappointment. (They also met in the ALCS the year before, and it ended with Boone’s 11th-inning homer in Game 7, better known in Boston as the game when manager Grady Little inexplicably left a tiring Pedro Martinez on the mound.)Boston fans were ready [url=http://www.yankeesfanproshop.com/authentic-didi-gregorius-jersey]Didi Gregorius Jersey[/url] , with derisive chants for the Yankees during introductions and again after J.D. Martinez smacked a 2-0 fastball into the glove of a stem cell researcher in the front row of the seats above the Green Monster.“Everything you did before in the season doesn’t matter anymore. This is the playoffs,” said Martinez, who signed with Boston as a free agent in the offseason. “You know what the situation is. You’re playing the Yankees. This is the playoffs. You have to go. And now is the time to get it going.”Sale left with a 5-0 lead after giving up singles to Judge and Stanton in the sixth; both came around to score. In all, Sale was charged with two runs on five hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings — the longest playoff outing for a Red Sox starter since 2013.Martinez and Benintendi each had two hits for Boston. Judge had three hits, including the only extra-base hit, and Luke Voit had two singles for New York, which went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position.Happ lasted just two innings for his shortest postseason start, allowing five runs on four hits and a walk while striking out two.POWER OUTAGEThe Yankees had 10 hits, but the first nine were singles. Stanton, who hit 38 homers in the regular season, had four of the Yankees’ 13 strikeouts.“Sometimes you know that goes with Giancarlo sometimes,” Boone said. “If you make pitches against him, his outs are a lot of times strikeouts. … You have to live with that sometimes.”NO RELIEFRyan Brasier faced three batters and two of them reached. Workman got a big out but also allowed two hits and a walk. Matt Barnes walked one but allowed an inherited runner to score. Even the usually reliable Kimbrel coughed up a run.Just like that, the 5-0 lead was down to one run.It was exactly the kind of performance that had Boston fans in a panic entering the series. But Workman insisted the team is still confident in its bullpen.“I believe we’re the guys that are going to get the job done,” he said.HAMMY TIMEAaron Hicks singled off Sale to start the fourth — ending an 11-pitch at-bat — but once he got to first base he began flexing his right leg. After a visit from the trainer, Hicks was replaced by pinch-runner Brett Gardner.Hicks, who battled hamstring problems down the stretch, was also late going out to center field in the bottom of the first. The team said he had tightness in his right hamstring and was being evaluated.“He’ll get examined further tomorrow, and have an MRI and everything,” Boone said. “He felt like it might have been cramping, so we’ll just have to see.”UP NEXTPrice pitches for the Red Sox in search of his first playoff win as a starter, though he has two postseason wins in relief. Tanaka pitched seven shutout innings in Game 5 of the ALCS against Houston last year.