Winter Meetings Wrap Up
By: Maren Angus
The 2015 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings ended on Thursday and even though some bigger names (Johnny Cueto, Jason Heyward) decided to wait until the conclusion of the meetings to sign, there was still plenty to talk about.
Here are my big winners, big losers and surprises from the Meetings. ESPN’s Buster Olney also sat down to talk to me about his, give that listen when you are done reading.
Big Winners:
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Dbacks were making deals all week that immediately made them a contender for 2016. Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller in addition to one of the top offensive teams in the league last year, makes Arizona a possible NL West favorite.
Atlanta Braves
Some could say the Braves won the trade with the Dbacks. The hometown boy Dansby Swanson is a potential star and Ender Inciarte is a great two-way player. Did you see some of the plays he made last season?
Boston Red Sox
David Price and Craig Kimbrel give the Sox a No. 1 pitcher and a closer. They also signed outfielder Chris Young and gave Kimbrel a solid setup guy in Carson Smith.
Chicago Cubs
If what the Cubs did last year happened a year early, imagine what could happen this year? Ben Zobrist adds defense and veteran leadership. They deepened the pitching staff and took players away from the rival St. Louis Cardinals (John Lackey, Jason Heyward).
Big Losers
Arizona Diamondbacks
This is not a mistake, you are seeing them twice. The Diamondback gave up a top draft pick in Swanson and a solid outfielder in Inciarte. Hopefull the big signings don’t blow up in their face.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers walked away from the Meetings signing Hisashi Iwakuma. He gives them a No. 2 starter but the Dodgers failed to replace Greinke. They still have a crowded outfield and a lousy bullpen except for Kenley Jansen. The front office thought adding Aroldis Chapman would fix the bullpen issue but that quickly turned into a trainwreck.
Surprises
One of the biggest surprise to me was Neil Walker being traded from Pittsburgh to the New York Mets. Walker is from Pittsburgh and grew up a Pirates fan. His father, Don, played for the Pirates and was originally scheduled to go with Roberto Clemente on his humanitarian trip. Clemente insisted Walker not join him, the plane crashed and killed Clemente but allowed Walker to have his family.
