Top 5 Moves from the Baseball Winter Meetings

The Winter Meetings are a national baseball convention held every December, in which all thirty Major League Baseball teams send representatives to discuss league business, potential off-season trades and other transactions. Other attendees include the executives of the league, general managers, team scouts, team owners, and player agents seeking free agent contracts for their clients. Big money will be committed and players will find new homes as teams look to improve their rosters and address their off-season needs heading into spring training in mid-February. This year, the Winter Meetings were held right here in San Diego from December 7 to 11 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. With the Winter Meetings over, I would like to list my top five moves from this year's Winter Meetings.


5. Red Sox Acquire Rick Porcello for Yoenis Cespedes
In making this move, the Boston Red Sox traded from a surplus of outfield depth to address their need for pitching. Though Cespedes is a quality power bat, the additions of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval to the offense made him expendable. In trading for Porcello, Boston acquires a solid and durable middle-of-the-rotation starter who can eat up innings.

4. Padres Acquire Matt Kemp from Los Angeles Dodgers
Going into the off-season the Padres had one major weakness to address—offense. For a team that ranked as the worst offense in baseball last season, a power bat was much needed. In acquiring Kemp, the Padres immediately improve their offense by adding a player that many considered the best hitter in the National League during the second half of last season. Kemp has been plagued by injuries the past two years, but look for him to be a major bounce-back candidate this season. Though Kemp is a major weapon in any lineup, the Padres still lack another threat in their offense to complement Kemp and bring them to contention.

3. Dodgers Acquire Jimmy Rollins from Phillies
The Dodgers are in win-now mode and after the loss of Hanley Ramirez, had a glaring hole at shortstop to fill. Jimmy Rollins fits the bill perfectly as a veteran shortstop that still gets the job done. This being the last year of Rollins' contract, the Dodgers avoid any long term commitment to the 36-year old who smacked 17 homeruns and swiped 28 bags last season. Rollins provides a solid stopgap at shortstop for the Dodgers until top prospect Corey Seager is ready to take over and become the next Dodgers superstar.

2. Cubs Acquire Miguel Montero from Diamondbacks
With the Cubs' young, controllable talent pool of position players, catcher remained a position that the team felt could be upgraded. Montero provides the Cubs with an upgrade both offensively and defensively over Wellington Castillo. Montero's left-handed power bat nicely complements Castillo, who hits from the right side. Montero is a veteran presence who knows how to handle a pitching staff and though he regressed offensively towards the end of last season, should enjoy being surrounded by a talented Cubs lineup of rising stars that features the likes of Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez.

1. Cubs Sign Jon Lester
If there was any move from the Winter Meetings that was a no doubt win, it was this one. With the Cubs' young and talented position players, pitching was in much need of an improvement if the Cubs wanted to be anywhere close to catching division rivals, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburg Pirates. Lester gives the Cubs a bonafide ace with plenty of post-season experience and two World Series rings under his belt. He will anchor a Cubs rotation that already features Jake Arrieta and the newly-signed Jason Hammel. With a major boost to their pitching staff to complement their young and rising offense, look for the Cubs to make a push in the NL Central this season as they make a run to return to the playoffs.