Hot Stove Update: The Dominoes Finally Fall

By the calendar, we have almost a month of Winter left, but Spring Training is in full swing which means it's time to shut down the Hot Stove.  Free Agent hoping to not be left in the cold started signing contracts in the busiest weekend of the Hot Stove League.  The first shoe to drop was Eric Hosmer signing an 8 year $144 M contract with with the San Diego Padres.  Hosmer was projected by MLBTR to get a 6 year/$132 M contract this winter, so he got more years and more total money, but at a lower AAV of $18 M rather than the projected $22 M.  The contract takes him through his age 35 season and if Hos is their guy, the 2 extra years in return for a lower AAV probably makes sense for the Padres.  Hosmer has run hot and cold in his career with 3 years of the last 5 contributing 3-5 fWAR but 2 other years being essentially replacement level performance.  He does look like a good bet to at least break even in value over the duration of the contract.  My only problem with it from the Padres perspective is what do they do if a better first base option comes available, say, in year 4 of the contract?  They've boxed themselves in at the position, a bit like the Giants and Brandon Belt, but for a longer commitment than the Giants have to Belt.  As for rebuilding, if the Padres can't build a competitive team before Homer's contract runs out, they need drastic changes in management and ownership.

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Thy Red Sox finally clapped back at the Yankees for the Stanton trade by signing their obvious target, JD Martinez, to a 5 year/$110 M contract which is considerably less than MLBTR's projected 6 years/$150 M.  The Red Sox successfully waited out the market.  What makes the deal palatable for Martinez is it is heavily front loaded with 2 Opt-Outs.  JD gets $25 M for each of the first two years then can opt out or take $22 M for the 3'rd year. Then comes another Opt-Out opportunity or he can take the final two years at $19 M per season.  Like the Giants, the Red Sox desperately needed to add a power hitter to last year's dinger-challenged team. Unlike the Giants, the Red Sox decided to ignore the CBT tax and sign the top available power hitter after Stanton.  We'll see how that works out this year and in the years ahead.

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The D'Backs signed CF Jarrod Dyson to a 2 year/$7.5 M contract which is considerably less than MLBTR's projected 2 years/$12 M.  For essentially the same price as the Giants paid for Austin Jackson, the Snakes get a superior defender but probably a weaker bat.  Personally, I would take my chances with a platoon of Gorkys Hernandez and Jarrod Dyson unless the Giants really are convinced that Steven Duggar is their man right now.

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The Twins shored up their Starting Rotation by trading a 3'rd tier prospect to the Rays for RHP Jake Odirizzi.  Odirizzi is a fairly average #3/4 SP whose surface numbers should improve just with the move out of the AL East.  If you read Fangraphs, you will see that some analysts believe Jake is a tweak away from being a really good pitcher, maybe a #2 SP.  He won a salary of $6.3 M earlier this winter which is very affordable for what he gives.  For you fantasy baseball players out there, the trade opens up a lane for Rays top pitching prospect, Brent Honeywell to join their rotation out of the gate.  That would be a buy!

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Lastly, IF Eduardo Nunez re-signed with the Red Sox and LHP Jason Vargas signed with the Mets.  Not much to say about those.  Nunez will probably fill a utility role while Vargas will eat some innings fro the Mets.

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The Giants DFA'd Joan Gregorio to make room on the 40 man roster for Tony Watson, an inneresting move seeing as how they also have the likes of Pierce Johnson on the 40 man.