Baseball’s Orlando, Florida winter meetings did not provide much in the way of entertainment, much to the consternation of the MLB Network, who was providing 24-hour coverage of the yearly affair. In fact, most found it to drag on rather interminably in 2017.
Only one big deal could really be said to take place, wherein Marcell Ozuna, outfielder for the Marlins, joined the Cardinals, amidst an excess of no-name middle relievers who signed up on free-agent deals.
Ozuna is from the Dominican Republic, and has managed a total of 96 runs after making his MLB debut on the 30th of April 2013. So, there’s that.
An Overabundance of Not Much at All
Viewers would’ve been forgiven for turning to a game of online blackjack for some excitement instead! The Giancarlo Stanton/Yankees deal got made official, but the drama, in fact, all took place the previous weekend.
Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star from Japan, discovered an issue with his elbow, although none of the Angels seemed overly concerned.
Boras Mostly Reruns Playoffville Speech
Agent Scott Boras took to the stage, but most of what he said was a basic repeat of his Playoffville speech, which he ran past the media over the course of last month’s GM’s meetings.
Manny Machado’s unexpected availability created some buzz late in the day, but it turned out that the Orioles were not anywhere near committed to pulling the plug on next year’s season just yet.
Like Seinfeld – A Show About Nothing
This baseball offseason has revealed nothing much. As of Thursday evening, only 12 free agents had managed to get contracts signed, a whopping total of 30 fewer than at this point last year, says the Associated Press.
Friday saw a few more players signing, including the previous reliever for the Cubs, Hector Rondon, who went to the Astros; Carlos Santana, the Indians’ first baseman, who went to the Phillies; and Zack Cozart, shortstop for the Reds, who headed over to the Angels. Perhaps this will mark the floodgates opening?
The Big-Ticket Players are All Still Available
By and large, however, the big-ticket players are all still hanging around a little more than a week before Christmas! Yu Darvish, Wade Davis, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Jake Arrieta, J.D. Martinez, and Eric Hosmer are all still to be had if the price is right.
A number of rumours were swirling, and there was a lot of airtime to fill.
The talking heads for the MLB Network were deep in debate about whether or not the Nationals could actually afford adding Arrieta to a rotation which includes Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer, who, combined, make US$385 million at this stage.
While January usually sees prices drop, this still doesn’t seem like a typical baseball hot stove season. Are they all simply overestimating their worth in today’s market?
Could we be seeing some star players hanging on for mega-deals when the spring-training camps open up in two months? I suppose we will have to wait and see!
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