Winter Meetings Update: Is Cabrera finally moved today?

Here are some quick notes and news bits connected to the Indians coming out of Nashville as the fourth and final day of the winter meetings get underway today. I will have a much more thorough update on all of this and more in my Winter Meetings daily recap piece later this afternoon:

- The question no longer appears to be if the Indians trade All Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, but when. The Indians have been feverishly working to complete a deal with the Diamondbacks to send Cabrera there in exchange for two frontline young pitchers, but the Diamondbacks have been unwilling to meet their asking price. That is a big reason why these three and four team deals have been discussed, and per a report late last night from Ken Rosenthal, Joel Sherman and others it appears a four team deal between the Indians, Rangers, Mariners, and Diamondbacks is gaining steam. There have also been talks that the Royals and Rays have been involved as well instead of the Mariners. Know this: this is a very real deal being discussed as the Rangers, Indians and Diamondbacks all want this thing to get done. I have even heard from a source close to the situation that a deal is getting close and could be announced sometime today, and another source connected to Cabrera says he has been apprised of the happenings almost every step of the way. This could set up for a very busy final day of the winter meetings.

- On the free agent front the Indians are still talking to Nick Swisher, Kevin Youkilis, Mark Reynolds, and just about any bat out there. It appears the pitching market is slow and most of the top arms will not sign this week, but the Indians are talking to Edwin Jackson and others. The activity slowed last night on the free agent front, probably because the Indians and several other teams are putting so much energy into completing that complex trade scenario.

- The Indians have had discussions with the Dodgers about shortstop Dee Gordon. If they trade Cabrera as expected today or sometime in the near future, they are looking for an alternative to fill in for him. Gordon is a good defender with lots of speed. The Indians also have reportedly been talking to free agent shortstop Stephen Drew.

- Today is the Rule 5 Draft. It kicks off at 10:00am ET and I will be running a live blog on it. I don't expect the Indians to be active in it, but the 40-man roster is at 39 players so they could select someone if they want to. They have the 5th pick in the draft.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2013 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.