The only thing that makes me more excited than the return of the McRib sandwich at McDonalds is the Major League Baseball offseason.

Fire up the hot stove! That’s what I say.

The World Series? Blah. It does nothing for me.

Part of the reason the World Series is a dud is because it ends so late.

November is a month for football, not for baseball.

By this time of the year, my attention is squarely on the NFL. No other sport need apply.

The baseball

offseason, well, that’s a different story.Once the World Series (finally) ends, players file for free agency and teams start to plan how they will renovate their rosters.That’s when things really start to get interesting.Before the champagne dried in San Francisco pitcher Tim Lincecum’s long locks, 142 players hit the market.That’s a lot of potential movement.And a lot of potential fun as players look for some serious greenbacks and teams inevitably shell out too much.Then you have the trades. Oh, those trades.Here’s some of the moves I think (or hope) will happen:•

Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome sign with the Cleveland Indians This is probably only a dream, but what a wonderful dream it would be for an old Indians fan like myself.It would be like 1995 again.I wonder what Orel Hershiser and Dennis Martinez are doing these days? They probably could fill out the starting rotation in 2011 for the Tribe.Let’s give Eddie Murray a call while we are at it.•

The Boston Red Sox (finally) trade for Adrian Gonzalez The Sox have had a man-crush on the Padres first baseman for almost two years now.Boston finally gets its man, but it takes some top prospects and injury-prone Jacoby Ellsbury to do it.•

Cliff Lee signs with the N.Y. Yankees The Steinbrenners appease Lee by telling him they will have the fans who spit on Lee’s wife executed by Joba Chamberlain fastballs.All of the pitches, though, miss the mark. The fans survive, but Lee is so blown away by the effort, he signs anyway.•

Adam Dunn signs with the Pittsburgh Pirates No, not really. Just wanted to get your attention.Russell Branyan is more the Buccos’ speed. The Pirates need some serious pop on the cheap, and Branyan qualifies.•

Carl Crawford signs with the Los Angeles Angels The rest of baseball finally discovers just how good Crawford is when he finally escapes Tampa Bay.•

The Red Sox sign Jayson Werth and trade for Giants closer Brian Wilson With Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia already on the roster, the Sox will then have the market cornered on wacky facial hair.Take that Yankees.Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.