The week after the MLB Winter Meetings is always one of my favorite weeks of the offseason. It’s typically when the deals start falling in regularity and the Free Agent Market really starts to take shape as the dominoes start falling.
This past week was no exception as there has been a flurry of activity lately as big market teams are making championship moves, non-contending teams are flipping their rosters, and other teams seem to be relatively sitting back and waiting to make smaller moves once the market has been saturated of its larger names. It’s hard to keep track off when the names being signed aren’t Bryce Harper, or Manny Machado, but these signings could be just as impactful.
In case you’ve missed your team’s new members, we got you covered with a quick breakdown of this MLB offseason so far.
ROCKIES: Well this happened yesterday…
Great signing for Colorado. Like most hitters, Murphy should rake in that climate. Sources say that Murphy will be looking at more time at 1B in Colorado so the Rockies still have a shot to resign DJ Lemahieu at 2B, if they want. I wrote an article about Murph when the Cubs first acquired him at the waiver wire last season on how I thought he was going to help solve the Cubs offensive inconsistency woes, and it worked well for awhile. But eventually didn’t pay off in the end. It was still a good move by the Cubs last season and ironically, one of the teams that passed on Murphy on the wire was the Rockies. Guess they realized how dumb that was now.
CARDINALS: This happened yesterday too…
They also traded for one of baseball’s least talked about superstars in Paul Goldschmidt earlier this offseason. As a baseball fan, good for St. Louis. Chicago and Milwaukee aren’t going anywhere next year and now St. Louis virtually makes the division a very tight three team race. As a Cubs fan, all I have to say about this signing is….
NATIONALS: Yeah they signed another pitcher…
Granted, they signed Anibal Sanchez, who before last year was an MLB burnout. Congrats to the dude though for turning around his career at 35 and baiting the Nats into giving him that cheddar! Still a stud rotation with Scherzer, Strausburg, and now Patrick Corbin (signed earlier this off-season.)
ATHLETICS: One more from yesterday…
Joakim Soria isn’t as big of a name as he was when he was a closer in KC way back when, but for a team who’s pitching staff was a big reason to their surprising success last season, Soria isn’t a bad pick up to help bridge the gap to power relievers Lou Trevino and Blake Treinen. However, the A’s are undoubtedly going to need big years from their two young pitching studs, AJ Puk and Jesus Luzardo, if they want to compete at the same level next year though.
PHILLIES: They didn’t sign anyone yesterday, but they met with Manny Machado and this happened…
Video cuts out right before he says, “Get the money!”, but he’s right. Get that money Machado. I’ve thought since the trading deadline last year that Machado would be a great fit for Philly and now Philly is ready to spend stupid money on you. If he doesn’t choose Philly though, it’ll probably be the Yankees… Also, sign Zach Britton Philly.
YANKEES: They didn’t make any signings yesterday either, but shout out for trading for James Paxton earlier this offseason. When he’s healthy. he’s a top 10 left-handed pitcher.
BOSTON: No signings yesterday either, BUT a report did come out that Boston is not going to be in talks with other relievers until Craig Kimbrel makes a decision. Not sure I like the idea of putting all your eggs in one basket, especially since the only relievers of major significance available after Kimbrel are Adam Ottavino, Zach Britton, and Cody Allen. Boston wins cause they take risks though, and I think this one will work out.
WHITE SOX: If you didn’t know, the White Sox traded for Yonder Alonso earlier this offseason. Honestly, this is a slight improvement at the DH spot for the team, but he’s also the brother-in-law to a one Manny Machado. Will this be enough to entice the superstar to our city? I don’t think so. I still have him in Philly, but I will say the Sox are probably going to land one superstar this offseason….
Cub fans are probably shunning me right now, but honestly our argument that Bryce is coming to the Cubs is cause he’s best friends with Kris Bryant. I say fuck that. We’re not in second grade or NBA players. We don’t need to team up with our friends. We want to embarrass the shit out of friends when we beat them on the field. I won’t complain though if he does choose the Cubs…
CUBS: Our biggest move so far has been signing Danny Descalso a few days ago…..whoopie!
But really, Descalso offers only a small upgrade over Tommy La Stella, who we traded to the Angels earlier this offseason for nothing really. Descalso offers more pop with the bat and can play a few more positions in the outfield, if necessary. It would’ve been nice if we could have gotten a Marwin Gonzalez to fulfill that super utility role, but we’re basically in penny-saving mode right now so it’ll be small moves for the clubhouse and getting our young core healthy and back on track for positive development. We’re still looking for a veteran catcher so hopefully we can snag Jonathan Lucroy at a cheap price. He would be a perfect leader for the pitching staff and for Willy to learn from. Also, he looks like he can be related to Grandpa Rossy. It’s too perfect of a fit.
METS: They didn’t make any signings yesterday either, but NY deserves another shoutout because the Mets have been the most active team this offseason. They traded for Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano. Hopefully the decline of Cano isn’t too drastic right away, but it’s coming SOON. They also signed Wilson Ramos and Jeurys Familia so far this offseason. Both players have been productive in their careers, but the age is up there now and the injuries have been there before. On paper though, they’re ready to compete now.
ORIOLES: Piss off for signing Brandon Hyde, Cubs former bench coach, as your new manager and giving Chicago the false hope that Grandpa Rossy could come back as the new bench coach. On a side note, congrats Brandon Hyde on getting that job. Best of luck! Grandpa Rossy won’t be coming back as bench coach either, but he did just recently sign a multi-year extension with ESPN so he’s an even hotter commodity now than he ever was during his career in the MLB.
ANGELS: A lot of small signings/reclamation projects with Trevor Cahill and Matt Harvey both inking one year deals. They’re also linked to another Japanese star pitcher that may be coming to MLB next year, Yusei Kikuchi. He’s not a two way player like Shohei though so don’t get your hopes up LA.
ALL OTHER TEAMS OTHER THAN MIAMI: Tits. I have nothing to report here.
MIAMI MARLINS: Aren’t you a minor league team by now?
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