LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - At least six teams are in pursuit of former Indians first baseman Carlos Santana.

The Indians are one of them. In fact, they have made Santana an offer, but currently his agents are waiting for the market to form. Yes, Giancarlo Stanton is off the books, but there are a lot of other offensive players on the market including outfielder J.D. Martinez and first baseman Eric Hosmer.

It should be noted that the Indians made Santana a qualifying offer of $17.4 million, which he turned down, to ensure they'd get draft pick compensation if he signs with another team.

It's unclear if Santana will sign before or after them. What is clear is that Santana, his agents and the Indians are being patient. Both sides appear willing to wait and see which way the market turns for the switch-hitter.

While the Indians' offer was considered a required first step in negotiations, it wasn't enough to get Santana to return to Cleveland. The Indians have been assured that if Santana does receive an offer to his liking, the Indians will be given a chance to counter it before he makes his final decision.

Santana said at the end of last season that he would love to return to the Indians. He has spent his whole big-league career with them, covering seven plus seasons. But it's also evident that Santana, 31, is out for the best contract he can get.

The Indians' payroll will exceed last year's franchise record of $124 million because of raises and arbitration. The amount of money they have available to sign free agents is limited.

Boston, Philadelphia, Texas, Seattle and San Diego have reportedly shown interest in Santana. The Mets were also linked to him, but that seems to have faded.

If the Indians don't sign Santana, they'll need a replacement at first base. Prospect Bobby Bradley doesn't appear to be ready, but there has been talk of Michael Brantley, recovering from right ankle surgery, making the move from left field to first. Edwin Encarnacion could play first and Lonnie Chisenhall could offer some platoon help.

Realistically, if Santana doesn't return, the Indians could be forced to find a replacement through trade or free agency. Free agency is the easiest route. All it costs is money, right? But it's money the Indians don't have.

Still, there are plenty of free-agent candidates available including: Mitch Moreland, Mike Napoli, Matt Adams, Yonder Alonso, Chris Carter, John Jaso, Adam Lind and Mark Reynolds. The Indians would prefer to add a right-handed hitter either at first base or one of the corner outfield spots.

Austin Jackson, another free agent, helped fill that role for the Indians last season. Jackson hit .318 (89-for-280) with an .869 OPS in 85 games. The Indians have an interest in bringing Jackson back as well, but that could take time.

The problem with trying to make a trade in this era of analytics is that all 30 teams have the same information. All teams have scouts, analytical departments and computerized systems to analyze and organize that information.

In the past, there were differences in the way teams evaluated players. One team may have valued a player as a potential All-Star, while the team that owned that player didn't think that highly of him. It created more opportunities to make deals and favored teams that took the best advantage of their information-gathering resources.

Now tools like Statcast can measure how fast a player can run, how hard a player can throw, how many inches his fastball moves. And every team has access to that information. It has made the art the deal more difficult.

There are still ways to make trades. The Stanton deal is an example. The Marlins sent the Yankees the NL MVP because they wanted to dump salary and rebuild. The Yankees were willing to take a large chunk of that salary because they're in a win-now mode.

Another way to make a deal is if the Indians, with an excess of starting pitching, found a team that not only needed starting pitcher, but had an excess of outfielders. If they hit right-handed so much the better.

Sound implausible? That's what baseball is all about.