SAN DIEGO – The flurry of trades and the quality of names on the move as the winter meetings wrapped up Thursday were astounding.
Matt Kemp, Mat Latos, Jimmy Rollins, Howie Kendrick, Rick Porcello, Yoenis Cespedes, Wade Miley, Alfredo Simon, Dee Gordon, Yasmani Grandal, Dan Haren, Andrew Heaney – and that’s before the free-agent signings and prospects are accounted for.
In the span of 24 hours, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Angels, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies all remade themselves in significant fashion.
Give the GMs credit – from L.A.’s new power duo of Andrew Frideman and Farhan Zaidi to Detroit’s consistently resourceful Dave Dombrowski – they really pulled off a fascinating and complex series of transactions.
And the best part is there’s still more action to come.
Jon Lester’s signing with the Chicago Cubs was the catalyst for one of the wildest runs of transactions in recent memory, leaving Max Scherzer as the major prize on the free agent market. Intriguingly, the Dodgers seem to have positioned themselves for a run at the ace by escaping the majority of Kemp’s contract, but surely the New York Yankees will jump in the fray, perhaps the Washington Nationals, too, and some feel the Tigers will end up in the mix.
Then there’s starter James Shields and outfielder Melky Cabrera still on the free agent market (Ervin Santana is reportedly headed to the Minnesota Twins for $55 million over four years), and likely more trades to come with Cole Hamels, Justin Upton and Ian Desmond among those still believed to be available.
Amid the madness at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, the Toronto Blue Jays essentially sat out on the sidelines, choosing not to outbid the Houston Astros for relievers Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek, or the Chicago White Sox for closer David Robertson, all of whom they had interest in.
Instead, general manager Alex Anthopoulos returns home with waiver claim Chris Colabello – a present for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons – and more information on where the next dominoes might fall. His focal point in trying to remake the Blue Jays bullpen is now on relievers due to hit free agency next year, and Washington’s acquisition of two low-level prospects from the Texas Rangers for reliever Ross Detwiler may offer a blueprint.
Anthopoulos had already played most of his hand before the winter meetings, having signed free agent Russ Martin to an $82-million, five-year deal, traded Brett Lawrie and three prospects for Josh Donaldson and sending J.A. Happ to the Seattle Mariners for Michael Saunders.
The trade of Adam Lind to the Milwaukee Brewers for Marco Estrada helped set the stage for those transactions, while the acquisition of Devon Travis from the Detroit Tigers for Anthony Gose addressed the need for a second base prospect at the upper levels of the system.
The interconnectedness of many of those moves was a trend replicated at the winter meetings, where the chain of events was enough to make heads spin.
The Red Sox, acting after Lester turned them down for the Cubs, bolstered their rotation by picking up Miley from the Diamondbacks for Rubby De La Rosa and Allan Webster, and then flipped Cespedes and two prospects to the Tigers for Porcello in an exchange of pending free agents. Combined with the signing of Justin Masterson, a rotation that was threadbare now features that trio combined with Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelley in a steady, if unspectacular groundball-inducing five.
The Tigers, in adding Cespedes, now feature an imposing middle of the order that already included Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez, while Simon covers for Porcello behind Justin Verlander, David Price and Anibal Sanchez.
The moves should position the Tigers well to thwart a challenge from the ascending White Sox, who also added Jeff Samardzija from Oakland while in San Diego to bolster the previous signings of Adam LaRoche and Zach Duke.
Meanwhile the Reds, who needed to shed nearly $20 million in payroll, picked up shortstop Eugenio Suarez and pitching prospect Jonathan Crawford from the Tigers, and pitcher Anthony DeSclafani and catcher Chad Wallach from the Marlins for Latos, turning their two pending free-agent pitchers into four longer-term assets.
The Marlins were a surprise landing spot for Latos and that they used DeSclafani, one of the pitchers acquired in the Jose Reyes/Mark Buehrle/Josh Johnson blockbuster two winters ago, is sure to irk some Blue Jays fans. That deal came after the Marlins picked up Gordon, Haren (who may retire rather than move from Southern California), a prospect and cash for Heaney, the ninth overall pick in 2012, infielder Enrique Hernandez, reliever Chris Hatcher and a prospect.
They now look like a real threat in a diluted NL East.
That Gordon trade was one of three deals for Friedman and Zaidi, a front-office duo that may become baseball’s most exciting off-field attraction.
The Dodgers flipped Heany to the Angels for second baseman Kendrick, another free agent after next season, and then added Rollins from the Philadelphia Phillies to complete a remake of their middle infield. Soon after Kemp (along with $30 million to help cover the $107 million remaining on his contract) and catcher Tim Federowicz were dealt to the Padres for Grandal and two prospects, helping to clear their outfield glut while strengthening themselves behind the plate.
For good measure the Dodgers also signed Brandon McCarthy to a $48-million, four-year deal.
With Heaney, the Angels now have an enviable group of young starters that already included Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker and Tyler Skaggs, plus veterans Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson. And they picked up infielder Josh Rutledge for righty Jairo Diaz, giving them someone to compete with Grant Green for the job at second.
The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, continued to shed money and collect assets (they had earlier dumped catcher Miguel Montero on the Cubs) while the Phillies appear to have started the great sell-off they so clearly need to embark upon.
Whew, got all that? There’s certainly no shortage of changes to digest.
For the teams that didn’t get in on the frenzy, the next steps are to regroup at home and plot the next moves. Given the way this off-season has been playing out, there’s surely lots of excitement still to come.
