Well, THAT wasn't good! The Giants went into the Winter Meetings with the buzz going their way with Jon Lester seeming to seriously consider signing with the reigning World Series Champions. Then things started getting really weird. The Giants basically announced the they would not conduct any other business until Lester made his decision. Then they waited, and waited and waited some more. You could almost see their delegation literally huddled around a stove looking down at their feet. I mean, it was like King Henry waiting to see the Pope, Jimmy Carter in the White House waiting for the hostages to be released, the wallflowers at the dance hoping against hope the quarterback comes over asking for the last dance. It was horrible! Even given the probability that whoever signed Lester would live to regret it, still horrible. Here were the defending champions behaving and being treated like cellar dwellers. When Lester finally left them cowering in the corner, it was like the Game 6 of the 2002 WS. You just knew there was no way they were going to win Game 7 and no way they were going to get a deal done the rest of the Winter Meetings.
Now, all this may well turn out for the best in the end. The number of bad deals done at the Winter Meetings almost always outnumber the good ones by a sizable margin, and the bigger the deal, the more likely it is to turn out bad. For now, though, wow! That just felt humiliating!
So here are a few awards for the Winter Meetings. You've probably already guessed who wins the award for Worst Winter Meetings. Yep. Here's a few more:
Best Signing: Jason Hammel, RHP. Cubs. I had Hammel pegged as a good value at 3 years/$30 M. Cubs got him for 2 years/$20 which includes an option for a 3'rd season with a $2 M buyout. Hammel is no ace, and has had his problems staying healthy, but given the market price for pitching, this is a very solid deal for the Cubs.
Biggest Signing: Lester to Cubs 6 years/$155 M. That is a lot of money and a long time for any pitcher. The last 3 years could get real ugly. Even with the Hammel and Lester signings, it seems to me the Cubs are just back to where they were before they traded Hammel and Samardzija to Oakland.
Most Improved Team: White Sox. The Sox replaced Adam Dunn before the meetings by signing Adam LaRoche. They then poached David Robertson from the Yankees. He's expensive, but he provides a much needed anchor to the bullpen for a manageable price. Lastly, they gave up very little to land Jeff Samardzija who will team up with Chris Sale and Jose Quintana to form a very formidable 1,2,3 in the rotation. Samardzija grew up rooting for the White Sox so they may have a leg up on signing him to an extension or else re-signing him out of free agency next offseason. I like what the White Sox are doing!
Team Headed in the Most Wrong Direction: Oakland A's. Wow! It's almost like Billy is trading away his team in a fit of anger over getting blown out of the playoffs in a weird Wild Card game. That team has had the guts torn out of it and Billy did not get nearly enough in return. That does not even count a lot of the free agents they have lost or are going to lose. Right now, the A's are decimated at both the MLB and minor league levels.
Most Interesting Team At the Meetings: LA Dodgers. Andrew Friedman did not take long to remake this team. It remains to be seen if the remake is for the better, but it sure is interesting to watch! The Dodgers are now a better defensive team, I don't think there is any question about that. In order to get to that point, though, they had to let go or give up 3 of their top offensive players from 2014, Hanley Ramirez, Dee Gordon and Matt Kemp. Those guys are going to be hard to replace in the lineup. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
What Awards would you give for the Winter Meetings?
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We know what deals were made at the Winter Meetings. The Giants did not make any. But we don't know what deals got discussed or started at the meetings, and we don't know how the big deals that other teams made will work out. To my way of thinking that means that we don't know whether the Giants had bad Winter Meetings, good Winter Meetings, or in between. Maybe Boston which committed a lot of money and a lot of years to Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez should get the award for the Worst Winter Meetings. Having the most boring Winter Meetings, from looking at them right after they are over, isn't the same as having the worst. I am surprised to see this blog talking as though they were the same.
ReplyDeleteThey are not the same and I never said they were. In fact, if you read carefully you would have noted the sentence, "Now, all this may well turn out best in the end."
DeleteI apologize for misunderstanding you, Doc. I thought that when you wrote, "You've probably guessed who wins the award for Worst Winter Meetings. Yep," you were referring to the Giants.
DeleteI WAS referring to the Giants. Worst Winter Meetings is very different than Worst Offseason.
DeleteDodgers are the most fascinating team to figure out right now. Those don't look like moves done by a committee either. If they DFA Wilson, I'll really be impressed. Cubs are most improved. These winter meetings may have set the seed for the 2017 NLCS.
ReplyDeleteThe cure to Pablo PTSD isn't chasing around every star name. I also have to wonder if we don't have a pitching version of Panik, or Susac that will change things. We only have 2 guys in our rotation set for next year so the farm really needs to produce a 4th starter, at the very least.
I can't look past Lester's wild card game, or the run where A's fans thought he was just going through the motions, and joked his bags were already packed to go home to Boston. He doesn't fit the Giants anyway. Fister on the other hand....
Good post. I'm partial to Fister as well, perhaps to strengthen the obligatory even year title run. I have read that GMs have concerns about decluning velocity, but so far he has proven it in the postseason (and at AT&T!). Bring the Merced boy home next year...
DeleteNWGiantsFan
DtF!!!
Do you think the Giants will trade for Cole Hamels? If so, what sort of package of players you think the Giants are willing to give up?
ReplyDeleteI would say most likely not. I don't think the Giants have enough they are willing to trade of what the Phillies want to get a deal done. I guess it depends on how much the Phils want to move Hamels, though. As MLBTR pointed out, several obvious destinations for Hamels seem to have moved on.
DeleteThere were a lot of winners at these winter meetings. The Padres needed very badly to acquire a big bat like Matt Kemp to help their offense, their pitching is pretty good. Dick Enberg said on a telecast that the Padres were not that far away from Giants. Didn't agree with him then, but the Padres took a big step forward getting Kemp... The Marlins made 2 good trades getting Matt Latos and Dee Gordon.. Playoff contention is not out of the question for the Marlins.. I'm also impressed with how the Angels keep acquiring young lefthanded starting pitching like Andrew Heaney this year and shedding payroll losing Howie Kendrick to make future moves.. I'm not disappointed at the Giants not making moves, sometimes you gotta be patient during the off-season for the right deals to come along.. I would be shocked and disappointed if the Giants were to sign Shields to a big multiyear contract because of his age..
ReplyDeleteLG