Day one of the Winter Meetings were about as quiet as they could possibly be, but that didn’t last long. Two of the most active teams this offseason, the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics, made multiple moves to improve their teams, but they weren’t the only ones making a splash. A blockbuster three team trade went down, the Pirates extended a pitcher, and the Mets added the a big time veteran free agent starting pitcher, and the wheeling and dealing is far from over as five of the top ten free agents are still available.
The most important news in free agency right now is the unresolved issue of the Japanese posting system and if Masahiro Tanaka will be posted once it is resolved. The biggest issue is that the new posting system would grant Tanaka’s former team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, only $20 million and that may make the Rakuten president Yozo Tachibana may decide to delay the posting another season. It may sound crazy that a Japanese Owner would turn down such a large sum of money, but when you compare the $20 million to the $51.7 million that the Rangers shelled out for the right to negotiate with Yu Darvish you can understand his willingness to turn it down and keep his star. This impacts free agency because teams would rather wait to see what happens with Tanaka then got after one of the current free agent starting pitchers.
The Mariners made a lot of moves on Wednesday after it was reported that outfielder Nelson Cruz turned down a seven year offer. After being rejected by Cruz they signed first baseman/outfielder Corey Hart to a $6 million contract that could elevate to $13 million with incentives. Hart has struggled with health the past two seasons, but when healthy is possesses the kind of power the M’s need in the lineup to protect recent acquisition Robinson Cano. The M’s were not done there, though, as they flipped reliever Carter Capps for another first baseman/outfielder Logan Morrison. In Morrison the M’s get a young slugger who could also give protection to Cano in the lineup. Morrison has shown great power potential, but has vastly underperformed over the past two seasons in Miami. The M’s tried this strategy last season when they traded for similar sluggers Kendrys Morales and Michael Morse and it did not worked like they hoped. These moves better this season, though, when it is put together with the signing of Cano.
Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics again dominated the headline this week with two more trades. Beane sent lefty starter Brett Anderson to the Rockies in one trade and lefty reliever Jerry Blevins in another. In return Beane pulled in lefty Drew Pomeranz, a minor league right hander and a minor league outfielder with speed to spare. They aren’t quite as flashy as the moves Beane pulled off last, but he freed up money in the trades that may be used to bring in the bat the he has been looking for to protect Yoenis Cespedes in the lineup.
In two other moves the Pirates locked up right handed starter Charlie Morton to an extension worth $21 over three years. Morton started 20 games for the Pirates in 2013 with a 3.26 ERA. Locking up Morton is a great move for the Pirates as they want to keep their young stars together for long term playoff runs.
The Pirates were not the only team making moves in starting pitching as the Mets gave a 40-year-old a two year contract worth $20 million. Bartolo Colon isn’t just any 40-year-old starter, though, he won 18 games last season and doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all. In Colon the Mets not only get a guy coming off of one of the best years of his career, but they get a veteran that leads by example to help lead their young pitching staff.
With all the moves going on over the last two days on thing has remained the same, the top free agents are still free agents. Top free agent Shin-Soo Choo is still on the market and his agent Scott Boras is looking for a deal similar to the one Jacoby Ellsbury got with the New York Yankees. Other than Choo the only other news on the top free agents is about the likelihood of Matt Garza to sign soon. The front runners for Garza are the Angels, Diamondbacks and Twins. It is rumored that the earliest he will sign is the weekend as his agent is no longer at the winter meetings, but anything can happen.
The biggest move this week, though, was a three-way trade between the White Sox, Angels and the Diamondbacks. The trade landed the Diamondbacks the slugger they have been looking for to protect Paul Goldschmidt in the form of Mark Trumbo. Trumbo has tremendous power potential as he has never hit less than 29 home runs in his major league career but the Angels needed starting pitching more than they needed the slugger, and starting pitching is what they got. In the deal the Angels received two capable starters that will, as of now, fill out the back end of their rotation in the form of Tyler Skaggs and Hector Santiago. The White Sox also got what they needed in the trade netting center fielder Adam Eaton in the trade. The trade likely takes the Diamondbacks out of the Choo and Cruz market as they have found their power hitting outfielder.
With just a few days left in the winter meetings things are bound to pick up further. The Cardinals are looking to add depth at the second base position and are looking at Mark Ellis and Ryan Roberts. With the addition of Morrison and Hart the Mariners are making Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero, two young sluggers who have underperformed, available via trade. The most interesting news of the week so far may be regarding a baseball analyst as Mark Mulder announced that he is making a comeback and is hoping to earn an invitation to spring training.