There was a point on Wednesday night where every single
person in the JLB — aside from sleeping Gina, yes, she works overnight — had a
green circle next to their name.
It’s safe to say, the JLB Winter Meetings matched the excitement of the MLB Winter Meetings — maybe even surpassed it.
After the first night, that didn’t seem like it would be
possible.
It was a snoozer.
“This was entertaining,” Crox said sarcastically at 6:43 a.m. on Tuesday.
Then, Fake Jon Heyman started tweeting.
The Slammers and Gamblers — a historic rivalry in the JLB —
combined to kick off what was about to be an insane 48 hours.
Jean Segura and Kyle Schwarber moved to the Slammers for
Matt Chapman and a case of Seth Beer.
For the Slammers, Segura, who moves to second base, made
Gavin Lux movable — and thus, the madness began.
The Slammers went on to move Lux, Alec Bohm and Madison
Bumgarner for Matt Olson and Kris Bryant, while securing two other deals that
remained secret well after the Winter Meetings ended. (I’ll explain in a few.)
After the Slammers and Gamblers traded at 9 p.m. on Tuesday
night, the chatter picked up big time. Teams jumped in on the fun, but that fun
didn’t become official until late Wednesday night.
In total, the four players in Tuesday’s trade were among 32
who were traded in the JLB.
Technically 37, but we’ll get to that.
Crox and the Monkey got things going on Wednesday night with
the shocking move of Carlos Correa for Corey Seager and Brandon Woodruff (also
picks involved).
This sparks an awesome question of who is better long-term:
Seager or Correa? Both have had similar paths. Early stardom followed by
injuries and the promise that they’d return to greatness. Who will do it?
With Correa being a year and change younger, I’m going to
lean toward him but it’s truly a toss-up. Since Woodruff was an additional part
of the deal, Monkey may have gotten a better overall value.
After that, the crazy deals came.
Choo, Dude and JV were hanging out late — and good thing for
JV, because he was around to take Choo’s must-move-now prospects.
Two top-tier guys in Joey Bart — the second-best catcher
prospect — and Nolan Gorman — the best Nolan at third base since the other
Nolan — both went to JV for peanuts.
Yes, if you were to select a food to describe Mitch Haniger, it
would be peanuts.
And not the nice roasted peanuts.
We’re talking about the kind you find in a tin in the back
of the pantry with an expiration date from two years ago. Oh, and the seal had been broken.
Why this deal was made, we’ll never know. But JV certainly
enjoys a Christmas gift.
It wouldn’t be the only thing placed under his tree this JLB
Winter Meetings. Ooh, more foreshadowing!
But before we get to that, the biggest deal of the Winter
Meetings has to be the Gerrit Cole for Mookie Betts and Mike Soroka deal.
Dude knew as soon as Cole signed, he was going to have
another Harper situation. Two years in a row, he waited for the signing and
then turned to the owner who wanted that player the most.
When you look at the names, this is an absolute blockbuster.
But there are plenty of question marks here for sure.
Can Cole keep it going? We see this so often when a pitcher
throws an insane amount of innings during a World Series run and just doesn’t
have it the next season.
In the past, we’ve seen those pitchers not hit free agency
until after they have that hangover
season, so Cole was extremely lucky with the timing of everything to cash in
with the deal he got.
Just as Dude was lucky it was the Yankees who got him.
Choo put the chips on the table and paid big time for the
ace of his staff.
On the other side of this is Betts, who had an MVP
season and struggled at times last season but still hit .295 with 135 runs
scored. If that's struggling, Dude will take it because it was just what he needed.
Wait. Let me say that this way: It was just what the Dude needed.
The best offense in the JLB gets stronger. We can delve into
that more in another offseason Jargon.
Now, on to the Thursday deals that were being talked about
at the “conclusion” of the JLB Winter Meetings, but didn’t go official until
later.
First came domino No. 1.
Quad Eh sent 34-year-old starter Corey Kluber and Nats prospect Carter Kieboom
packing for Michael Conforto and Brady Singer.
This is a good deal for Quad Eh because he was able to get some
value out of Kluber — unlike the Indians. Kluber struggled mightily and is a huge question mark heading
into the season. Erik certainly got more than the Indians got back, so one has
to wonder what the Indians know on Kluber.
That move opened the door for Quad Eh to get a
younger-than-Kluber veteran who is more consistent in Madison Bumgarner. If it
wasn’t for the Cole deal, this would be the blockbuster of the meetings.
Top prospects Gavin Lux and Alec Bohm joined Bumgarner on a
plane to Canada as Kris Bryant and Matt Olson came to the Slammers.
That’s right. Harper and Bryant are finally together — the
way all friends should be. They are like peanut butter and jelly. (... Or Butter and JV.)
With the Segura to second base and Schwarber in left field
deal in mind, I now fill the void left by Chapman and take care of a glaring
hole at first base. Not a bad revamping, but who knows. I’m no Eric Cross. (Imagine if he Googles his name and finds
this.)
Still three more — or five more — deals to go here.
The Cheese Steaks found Adalberto Mondesi and AJ Puk under
the tree for Trent Grisham, Scott Kingery and Max Fried.
Kingery is a good return in my books, but the rest is rather
confusing. Steroid already has a million Max Fried-type pitchers on his roster
so not sure how this is all going to fit together.
Oh, but wait. Steroid added E-Rod to the pitching corps for
Tommy Pham. Two parts to this. One, why the hell did Choo trade for Haniger?
Two, E-Rod?
And then comes yet another pitcher, Sean Manaea for Brusdar
Graterol.
Steroid is still searching for another pitcher, too, to go
with the 10 starters who I consider to be keepers — some of whom are considered
keepers because they were traded for so they have to be, right?
Only time will tell.
Circling back to the Mondesi trade, I didn’t get to properly
finish my thoughts because things transitioned so well into the other pitchers
acquired.
Mondesi and Puk caused a lot of JLB owners to scratch their
heads, but my initial reaction was that Butter gets the edge on this deal.
JV said I was alone in that thought.
Mondesi brings the 43 stolen bases from last year, but with
an OBP that was just .291 and a batting average at .263, I worry about the
Billy Hamilton comps that could be looked at here. The hit tool is slightly
better, but he is very Hamilton-like.
He’s coming off shoulder surgery, so that’s a bit disconcerting,
and add in the career numbers of .249 average and .282 OBP, it makes the stolen
base numbers a bit iffy if he cannot get on.
Hamilton’s career numbers: .242/.297. So that’s why I’m not
so impressed with Mondesi right now as a fantasy impact starter. And Puk? Until he stays healthy, I’m not
sure what he is.
And that’s why I give the edge to Butter here.
Perhaps the gift was actually under his tree.
This is cute. These two keep exchanging gifts.
Guess it’s JV’s turn to get something nice.
Editor's note: Remember when I said I'd get to explain my other deals. Well, it's been 36 hours since I wrote that and I had to give up waiting. I'll share the info on that as soon as I can.
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