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The best thing about the Winter Meetings is all the rumors.
The worst thing about the Winter Meetings is all the rumors.
We're going to hear a lot of conversation, a lot of rumors. Again, GMs will be talking to GMs. GMs will be talking to Agents. GMs and other baseball executives will have media sessions, and fans everywhere will cling onto every single word.
It's fun to read all the rumors. First, it's fun to contemplate what it would take for the Twins to get Player X. Second, it is then fun to think about how that player will look in the lineup. Third, the reality is that the teams each will likely make just a few transactions, so there will be many more rumors than there are actual transactions.
Here is a tremendous interaction/discussion from MLB Network between Greg Amsinger, Dan O'Dowd, Ken Rosenthal, and Peter Gammons, discussing how teams try to use the media and how media tries to decipher all the information they're being given.
That said, there are a lot of free agents on the market looking to sign somewhere. The key free agents will set the market for the others.
Teams like to be aggressive early, as the Twins were with the signing of Jason Castro, but agents who have their clients wait will either find more dollars as they wait, or if they wait too long, they may run out of suitors.
And then there will be a bunch of minor league signings. Teams need to fill out their AA and AAA rosters and they'll want to do so with guys that can do something at the big leagues if they were needed.
On that front, Darren Wolfson of KSTP-TV and 1500 ESPN radio, tweeted the following:
https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/805588149720256512
Paulsen has spent parts of the last three seasons with the Colorado Rockies. He was removed from the 40-man roster and became a free agent. He has played the corner outfield positions and some first base.
My initial thought was Meh. And my second thought and any subsequent thoughts were Meh. I mean, no minor league signing is going to create a lot of excitement. But it certainly can get some thoughts going. I mean, The Twins have corner outfielders in Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler and Robbie Grossman in the big leagues. Eddie Rosario and Robbie Grossman could be a pretty solid platoon. At 1B/DH, the Twins have Joe Mauer, Kennys Vargas, Byungho Park all in contention for a couple of big league spot.
But maybe the Falvey/Levine combo might be willing to trade Eddie Rosario or Kennys Vargas or Byungho Park. Kennys Vargas gets the extra option season, which is valuable to the Twins, but it's valuable to other teams as well.
Then consider the AAA roster. Adam Brett Walker was lost. Daniel Palka will be in Rochester. Zack Granite will be in Rochester. Will Travis Harrison and/or Dalton Hicks make the jump to AAA? There is no harm in signing a guy like Paulsen who will likely spend most of the season in Rochester, but has had success in the big leagues.
Enough about Ben Paulsen. Let's talk Brian Dozier.
Yesterday's thread was led by the Bob Nightengale tweet yesterday morning about the Dodgers being the leader in the Dozier sweepstakes, and that they have now piqued the Twins interest.
Later in the day, Jon Heyman tweeted the following:
https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/805602919403884544
Again, the Dodgers remain the leaders, but wouldn't it be fun to have an idea of who those other four or five teams might be?
Adding some fun to the discussion, Brian Dozier is scheduled to be at the Winter Meetings on Monday. He is there for a marketing commitment for Under Armour, but the timing is still interesting, of course. Maybe he can finally get some time and meet Derek Falvey and Thad Levine. We'll see what comes of it, if anything.
It will also be fun to see what happens around the AL Central. Cleveland is obviously going to be good for awhile. Will they do much?
The Royals were up to $135 million last year, and they're projected to be at $148 million. Sources told Ken Rosenthal that their break-even point is between $115-120 million, so they will likely be looking to deal some of their key players. They've got a lot of players in that group that are just starting to make some really good money. So, which will they keep and which will they trade?
The Tigers are rumored to be shopping JD Martinez and Ian Kinsler. Miguel Cabrera said he's willing to be traded, but that is unlikely.
The White Sox are clearly shopping Chris Sale. Atlanta and Washington are the two teams most mentioned. Dealing Sale would certainly hurt the White Sox short-term, but they could get a huge return for him as he is easily one of the top 10 starting pitchers in baseball. The White Sox have one of the worst farm systems in baseball, so they would add some talent.
A few more notes:
- Yesterday we wondered about Andrew McCutchen going to the Nationals. We just mentioned that Chris Sale has been mentioned with the Nationals. For what it's worth, the Nationals said on Sunday that they feel they have the players to get both.
- Matt Holliday, who missed most of the 2016 season with injury, signed a one year, $13 million deal with the New York Yankees. Obviously he can hit when healthy. More important, the one year deal isn't prohibitive to the Yankees, who don't want to be paying into the luxury tax.
- Joe Nathan, who is 42, says that he wants to pitch again in 2017. He pitched just one game in April of 2015 (against the Twins) and needed Tommy John surgery. He signed with the Cubs and pitched in three games for them before they let him go. He signed with the Giants and pitched in seven games for them.
- Where will Edwin Encarnacion and his stupid imaginary parrot wind up?
- Which of the Big Three closers will sign first? Mark Melancon, Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen?
So there is some stuff to discuss to get things started this morning. Discuss any of these topics and keep checking back as more rumors come and go throughout the day.
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