Four teams to keep an eye on at the 2017 Winter Meetings

On Wednesday night, the baseball world got good news when the league's owners and the players union came to an agreement regarding the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new CBA will be in place for the next five years and while both sides made concessions that people are moaning about, the most important part is that this unprecedented period of labor peace in baseball will continue on.

In the short term, this means that baseball's Winter Meetings will be able to go on as planned next week, which means that we get to enjoy an exciting offseason week filled with teams looking to make improvements to their squad as the long Hot Stove season continues on.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The juiciest story right now is the fact that – per Jeff Passan  – the Pirates appear to be ready to trade Andrew McCutchen. With the Winter Meetings set to go on without the specter of a potential lockout looming, we could see a trade happen pretty soon if the Pirates get aggressive enough. There's always a chance that we could see the Nationals and Pirates link up again after they initially had discussions concerning McCutchen last summer. Granted, Pittsburgh's probably going to be fielding calls from plenty of teams during the Winter Meetings, but Washington is definitely a team to look out for here.

Chicago White Sox

Another team that could be looking to deal one of their stars is the Chicago White Sox, and the star in question is Chris Sale. There have been trade rumors swirling around Chicago and Sale for the majority of the offseason so far and if the White Sox do indeed decide to pull the trigger on a potential trade at the Winter Meetings, it'd be an indication that the South Siders are serious about rebuilding, because they'll probably end up getting a major haul from any potential trade partner. Guys like Jose Quintana, Todd Frazier, and even James Shields could potentially bring in some young talent, but Sale could bring in some potentially elite farm hands if they decide to deal him. Either way, the White Sox hold all of the power right now, and there's a decent chance that they could be a team that's holding another team over a barrel when it comes to a potential trade.

New York Mets

Yoenis Cespedes recently re-signed with the Mets, and that was the first major free agent domino to fall during this offseason. We're probably going to see a couple more dominoes fall, and the Toronto Blue Jays may be the next team to knock down a domino. There's a decent chance that Toronto's going to lose both Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista in free agency, but the Jays have already been linked with a couple of potential replacements – namely, Dexter Fowler,  per Jon Heyman . Fowler is clearly one of the bigger fish left on the market, as he's coming off of a career year as a member of the World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, and it's going to take a decent financial commitment for any team to land him. However, the Blue Jays are definitely a team that could afford him if they end up losing Encarnacion to free agency.

Houston Astros

Meanwhile, one team that could potentially be buyers next week is the Houston Astros. They've already made a couple of smart additions this offseason in the form of Brian McCann and Josh Reddick, but they're poised to keep on making additions to what could be a dark horse contender in the American League next season. They've been linked to Edwin Encarnacion, and the GM himself is actually on the record saying that Houston should be more aggressive in the offseason in an effort to build a winner. The Winter Meetings are normally a time for a team to make a big splash, and this could be Houston's moment to be this offseason's splashy team. The big question is whether or not the Astros will make a graceful splash like an Olympic-level diver, or if their splash will end up looking like a belly flop in about eight months time.