Twenty players, seven JLB teams. It was a busy five days from Dec. 30 to Jan. 3 as six separate trades went through in the JLB.
Apparently no one can wait a week for the JLB Winter Meetings, which officially kick off on Jan. 10. (Who's excited?!)
Big League Choo and Big Country Breakfast were the busiest during this stretch having their hands in all but one of the deals — a random Wily Adames for Noah Syndergaard swap between Philly Cheese and the Crox Sox (That's Calcetines de Cocodrilos for you, Stantonians.)
All-in-all, an odd move for the Steaks when looking at the names involved. Has Lindor's value plummeted that much? It may have been worth it to just hold on to him and see if some of that value could have been regained.
Then again, he's a Met so good riddance, am I right, JV?
Peralta's season as a whole was really good, but he faded big time down the stretch with a 4.70 ERA in his final 8 starts in August in September. So that's a bit concerning here because if Lindor bounces back, the weight is on Peralta to make JV not look like a fool here.
But, we all know JV. He's a fiend at finding the pitching gems year-to-year. The rule should really be, if JV calls about a certain franchise-eligible pitcher, hang up the phone. Then call him back from a restricted number to prank him.
Sam sent away a big name pitcher in Trevor Bauer and on-again, off-again Austin Meadows for up-and-coming Dylan Carlson, which really could be a steal if Bauer doesn't find his way back on the field. The Stantonians had the surplus in center with a certain fish there, but this one could really come back to bite them if Carlson continues to progress. The Cardinals CF batted .300 in his final 47 games of the season and looks to be part of a really damn good OF in St. Louis.
Sam regained pitching in a New Year's Day blockbuster with Choo, sending Paul Goldschmidt, Akil Baddoo, Bryan Reynolds and Hedbert Perez for Shane Bieber. A year ago, that'd be quite the deal, and don't get me wrong, it still is, but Bieber is coming off a season where he missed most of June, all of July and August and much of September. When he did return, he looked good in limited action as the Guardians played it safe.
Bieber is only entering his age 27 season, so he could easily make Choo regret this move. But then again, with the haul he got, and the replacement arm in Kevin Gausman he acquired in a deal with the Nutz, Choo is looking to be just fine stat-wise — maybe even better off than if he had held firm with the roster he had.
Choo holding firm.
I couldn't even type that with a straight face.
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