Winter Meetings: Sunday-Monday
Christmas came early for baseball fans, as the 2016-17 Winter Meetings launched into chaos on Sunday night. Now, the meetings themselves didn't start until Monday morning, but some moves were made Sunday night that got fanbases stirring.
The ever so controversial front office of the New York Yankees took action first on Sunday night as they struck a 1 year, 13 million dollar contract with veteran outfielder, Matt Holliday. The Yankees were projected to sign a big time bat to fill the DH gap on the team, and they went out and signed a veteran who has not been known for his slugging ability. I guess its just the "Brain Cashman way".
The Holliday deal may have been the focal point of Sunday night, however, there was another move that could turn out to be very effective. The Philadelphia Phillies agreed to a 1 year, 7.5 million contract, giving a young Phillies team a veteran closer. The Phillies are a questionable franchise at the moment, as they continue in their rebuilding phase after dominating the National League from 2007-2011.
The Dodgers also brought back their midseason trade acquisition, Rich Hill. Hill was fantastic for the Dodgers once he got there. Hill had an ERA of 2 with the Dodgers and who could forget the game against the Marlins where he got pulled after seven perfect innings. My initial thought on the trade is "why." Rich Hill is going to be 37 years old this season and he still got a 3 year deal. Do the Dodgers really think that the Rich Hill will be at all effective when he is 40 years old. I get that Rich Hill has one of the best curve balls in the game. I get that Hill has one of the best spin rates, I get that. What I do not get is the amount he throws his curveball. Hill throws his curveball around half of the time, and for a 37 year old who already has countless injuries, that just seems like an arm injury waiting to happen. BUT, with all of that being said Hill was absolutely dynamite with the boys in blue, so if he is anything close to that for 3 more years the Dodgers got an absolute steal of a deal.
The Blue Jays made what I think is the worst signing of the off season so far. The Blue Jays inked 1B/OF Steve Pearce to a 2 year 12.5 million dollar deal. I mean no disrespect to Pearce by this, but lets be real. He is no Edwin. It seemed to me like this deal closed any deal on Edwin. Now the Blue Jays have Kendrys Morales, Justin Smoak and Steve Pearce on the 25 man roster. It seems unlikely that Canada is able to retain Edwin. It almost feels like Shapiro got offended that Edwin did not take their 80 million dollar offer so they threw a little bit of a hissy fit and signed a pair of players who are not even on the same planet as Edwin. Pearce is a quality Major League player. Extremely versatile and absolutely mashes left handed pitching, but it is just a questionable fit.