NEWSLETTER
It’s over. The Winter Meetings are over. And they were … eh. There were a lot of good rumors, and some story line changes around the game, but the actual activity was shockingly light.
Consider that, as of a week ago, everything was understandably being held up in large part by the Shohei Ohtani pursuit and the Giancarlo Stanton trade talks. That’s not just me extrapolating – teams admitted that it kinda ground things to a halt. Then, on Friday and Saturday, the road cleared! Both pursuits wrapped up! Just in time for the Winter Meetings! Hello deluge of transactions!
… it did not happen. As of tonight, with the Winter Meetings over – a late Winter Meetings, mind you, that has extended to December 14 – the largest free agent contract signed was when the Cubs inked Tyler Chatwood last week to a three-year, $38 million deal. In the average year, if that was the largest contract signed before Thanksgiving I’d call it a surprise.
I’m sure the Ohtani/Stanton pursuits set things back, but clearly, there’s more to it than that. Whether it’s the massive free agent class coming next year, the first-offseason-adjustment to the new CBA’s luxury tax penalties, a lack of trade movement because teams value players so similarly now, or a combination of those things (and about 10 other things), the fact is that the market has behaved fundamentally differently this year than in years past.
And yet! The Cubs have managed to address nearly all of their needs already, with two quality relievers signed (Brandon Morrow and Steve Cishek), one quality starting pitcher signed (Chatwood), and another high-upside future play signed (Drew Smyly). They aren’t finished, but if they absolutely *had* to be finished right now, they’d have a perfectly playoff-contender-y roster. How many other teams can say that right now?
So, weird Winter Meetings over. We’ll see what happens now. I won’t even try to predict anything. Well, outside of the fact that when I’m seeing ‘The Last Jedi’ tomorrow, about 50 trades and signings will break out.
Let’s take one last Winter Meetings look at the rumor mill …
Apparently Orix Buffaloes closer Yoshihisa Hirano received a 2 year contract offer from an unnamed MLB team. The article states his agent was negotiating with the Chicago Cubs on the 12th https://t.co/UfoQUF8Orw #mlb
— NPB on reddit (@NPB_Reddit) December 15, 2017
A dark horse on JD Martinez, according to some in the industry: the Washington Nationals. Have Harper, Eaton and Taylor but could theoretically move Taylor to make room. Boras client, possible insurance policy for big bat if Harper leaves in a year.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) December 15, 2017
Joe Smith breakdown: 7M in 2018, 8M in 2019. #astros
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 14, 2017
The Diamondbacks have checked in on Machado conversations. White Sox, Cardinals have best offers so far.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 14, 2017
