The offseason is supposed to be a perennial winter of discontent for baseball fans. It was, after all, Hall of Fame second baseman Rogers Hornsby who quipped just so when asked what he did once the season ended.

"I'll tell you what I do," Hornsby replied. "I stare out the window and wait for spring."

And yet, it's hard not to feel optimistic even now. Baseball reminds us -- day in and day out, year after year -- that anything is possible next year, and with so many stars available in free agency and trade, a team's fortunes next year can change rapidly in the intervening months.

It's with those good vibes in mind, that we partake in a baseball-slanted Thanksgiving tradition. Below we offer a collection of things for fans of every team to be thankful for -- yes, even the Pirates. So enjoy. Gorge on turkey and all the trimmings. And remember Opening Day is only about four months away.

When the news broke Sunday that the A's and Hisashi Iwakuma were unable to come to an agreement on a contract, word was that the Japanese righty was looking for a contract similar to the seven-year, $126 million deal Barry Zito got as a free agent in 2006.

Iwakuma's agent Don Nomura has taken to Twitter to deny that account. According to Nomura, the A's offered Iwakuma a four-year, $15.25 million deal that was in the same neighborhood as the ones given to Kei Igawa and Colby Lewis. Nomura said he countered by offering up Hiroki Kuroda (three years, $35.3 million) and Daisuke Matsuzaka (six years, $52 million) as comparable pitchers.

That's a big difference, but we're nowhere near Barry Zito country unless you include the $19 million posting fee paid to Iwakuma's Japanese team as part of the deal. According to Nomura, that's what the A's tried to do and something that the player refused to accept.

Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma is likely to return to the Rakuten Golden Eagles because negotiations between him and the Oakland Athletics have broken down, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The A's won the right to negotiate exclusively with Iwakuma via the posting system when they made the highest bid -- rumored to be $16-$18 million -- on the right-hander and that bid was accepted by Rakuten.

Iwakuma, who started the championship game of the 2009 World Baseball Classic and had a 1.35 ERA in that tournament, was looking for Barry Zito-type money (as in the seven-year, $126 million contract he got from the Giants in December 2006), according to Slusser.

While his credentials are strong, that type of salary demand from Iwakuma is essentially a non-starter.

One of the bigger names on this year's top free agents is apparently being wooed by one of the sport's small-market teams. Could Adrian Beltre really wind up in Oakland? Jeff Fletcher is in Orlando covering the GM Meetings and reports for FanHouse TV. Click to watch:

The more things change for Adrian Beltre, the more they remain the same.

In 2004, Beltre became a free agent on the back of an unexpectedly good offensive year and got a five-year, $64 million offer from an AL West club. He didn't live up to those terms, leading him to sign a one-year contract with the Red Sox for the 2010 season. Beltre notched better than expected numbers and, once again, an AL West club has reportedly put forth a five-year, $64 million offer for his services.

The only differences are that it's Oakland, not Seattle, making the big offer and that this might just be the starting point for Beltre's final contract. Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes is the man reporting on the offer, which is just the latest sign that Oakland is hunting for bear this offseason.

The A's continued to wheel and deal this offseason, sending outfielder Rajai Davis to the Blue Jays on Wednesday for a pair of minor league pitchers.

The move, which netted Oakland right-handers Trystan Magnuson and Daniel Farquhar, was prompted by the A's earlier acquisition of David DeJesus from the Royals, making Davis expendable in the outfield.

Davis certainly contributed for Oakland in 2010, stealing 50 bases to go with a .284 average, 28 doubles and 52 RBI in 143 games for the A's. He made $1.35 million this season and was looking at another raise through arbitration this winter, making it easier for the A's to cut him loose.

Here's the breakdown on the trade that sends center fielder Cameron Maybin to the Padres and relievers Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica to the Marlins.

• In Maybin, 23, the Padres get a super-athletic player who has the most upside of any center fielder they employ save Donavan Tate, a fellow former top-10 draft pick who has yet to play a full season in Single-A. Yet the Marlins wouldn't have traded Maybin for Webb and Mujica if they believed he had a decent chance of becoming a star for them. He frustrated them with strikeout binges and dull defensive instincts. The Marlins do not have a stellar prospect to plug into center field.

Maybin doesn't need to become a star to represent an upgrade for the Padres. He is as fast or faster than Tony Gwynn Jr., a defensive stalwart who was San Diego's primary center fielder last year and now can slot as an extra outfielder. Scouts rate Gwynn far better at reading flyballs than Maybin; Maybin's hitting potential is far more exciting. The right-hander has a superb .393 on-base percentage and a .478 slugging percentage in 418 minor-league games. Across parts of four seasons with the Tigers and Marlins, Maybin was a below average hitter with a .313 OBP, a .380 slug rate and a 172 strikeouts in 610 plate appearances. He has 13 home runs and 19 stolen bases in 168 major league games. Maybin reputedly is a hard worker who caused the Marlins no problems. His salary will be near the major league minimum.

Don't look now, but the A's are positioning themselves to be the chic pick for a breakthrough season in 2011.

For the second time in a week they added a piece to their dismal offense, hoping to bring it up to be a better complement to the best young pitching staff in the league. (If this sounds familiar, keep reading.)

The latest acquisition is third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, claimed on waivers Friday from the Blue Jays. Encarnacion is the second third baseman on the A's roster, joining Kevin Kouzmanoff, but that's just a formality because manager Bob Geren has a few months before he needs to fill out a lineup.

"This gives us some options," A's assistant GM David Forst told FanHouse. "Luckily we don't have to decide tomorrow who our third baseman is."

In the first significant trade of the offseason, the A's acquired outfielder David DeJesus from the Royals in exchange for right-hander Vin Mazzaro and minor league left-hander Justin Marks.

DeJesus, who will be 31 next month, hit .318 with a .384 on-base percentage in an injury-shortened 2010 season. He is a career .289 hitter with a .360 on-base percentage. He can play any of the three outfield spots, but the A's would likely put him at one of the corners, with Coco Crisp in center. DeJesus also provides insurance in center if Crisp gets hurt again.

DeJesus is signed for one more year at $6 million, and then he'll be a free agent.

DeJesus, who hit only five homers last year, does not help the A's need for power, but GM Billy Beane said the A's still have time and money to find some pop. He said it was more likely to come on the free agent market (Lance Berkman? Carlos Pena? Aubrey Huff?) than through trades, since the A's won't be trading any of their other starters: Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson, Gio Gonzalez or Dallas Braden.

SAN DIEGO -- Now that the mutual admiration society that is Sandy Alderson and Paul DePodesta has reconvened, West Coast Bias wonders what would happen if these two brainy men were to straighten out the Mets.

One, ESPN would show the Mets on "Sunday Night Baseball" every week instead of every other week.

Two, folks within baseball who despise the Mets -- and their numbers are vast -- actually would have reason to fear the Mets, who've reached the playoffs only once in the last 10 years.

Three, PBS and Harvard would commission a documentary on Alderson and his protege DePodesta. If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere, right? Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld could narrate it.

A wiry man with dark hair, DePodesta, 37, has acting experience and could play himself. He got a bit part as a cop in the TV show "Homicide: Life on the Street." Then 22, he was also taking classes at the National Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C. He likely still can recite lines from "Hamlet."

"The dialogue is simply stunning," he said in an interview two years ago, when he was a special assistant to Alderson with the San Diego Padres. "The character is incredibly intense and riveting, but I think the dialogue is superior."

How DePodesta came to draw inspiration from Alderson, and then to work for him, is also an interesting tale, one that began 15 years ago when DePodesta took an entry level job with the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League. Having played both football and baseball for Harvard, DePodesta aspired to build a career in sports, preferably football. He knew almost nothing about Alderson, the lawyer turned successful baseball executive of the Oakland A's. In the same interview two years ago, DePodesta enjoyed recounting the as-fate-would-have-it events that would illuminate his career path.