The 2024 MLB Winter Meetings came and went in Dallas, with Juan Soto officially becoming a New York Met after signing a monstrous 15-year contract worth $765 million.
JUAN SOTO IS A MET!!! pic.twitter.com/dNVTM2JbFN
— New York Mets (@Mets) December 11, 2024
That certainly wasn’t the only deal that took place. And the market continued to show that organizations will pay big money for pitching,
There are still plenty of more moves to come this offseason, but here are some winners and losers for the Winter Meetings.
Winners
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays acquired an elite defender in middle infielder Andrés Giménez from the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday for their first splash of the offseason. In addition to his defense, Giménez has shown upside with his bat, putting together an .837 OPS in 2022, but he fell off to .712 in 2023 and .638 in 2024.
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins also complimented Giménez’s makeup at the Winter Meetings. The 26-year-old infielder is two seasons into his seven-year, $106.5 million extension, having five years left of club control.
The Blue Jays also acquired right-handed reliever Nick Sandlin in the trade. The Guardians received first baseman Spencer Horwitz (before sending him to the Pittsburgh Pirates in another trade) and minor-league outfielder Nick Mitchell.
Chicago White Sox
The rebuild is rebuilding.
It looked like the White Sox were leaving the Winter Meetings with their star ace in tow. Until the last minute, when Garrett Crochet was traded to the Red Sox. A trade that needed to be done.
The return was a haul of impressive prospects.
Catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth, and right-handed pitcher Wikelman González.
All four of them are top-15 prospects according to MLB Pipeline.
The #WhiteSox have acquired C Kyle Teel, OF Braden Montgomery, INF Chase Meidroth and RHP Wikelman González from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for LHP Garrett Crochet.
All 4 players are rated by https://t.co/JcyGHUs2CX among the Top 15 prospects in the Red Sox organization. pic.twitter.com/847fNrN7Ju
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) December 11, 2024
Teel is a top catching prospect and should be a catcher in the majors for a long time after balancing his power and consistency. The MLB Pipeline scouting report says Teel is “quicker and more athletic than most catchers.” He could arrive in the big leagues as soon as 2025 after finishing the 2024 season in Triple-A.
Montgomery is a switch-hitter with more damage from the left side, and the hope is that his plate discipline will get better over time.
The White Sox are getting a stud in Braden Montgomery
The 12th pick in the 2024 Draft has some pop
(
: @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/njBAvF7j5h
— MLB (@MLB) December 11, 2024
The Red Sox also came out strong in not having to take anyone away from their big-league roster and young core, while acquiring a frontline pitcher.
Texas Rangers
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said the team combed through every team and every free agent, so moves were inevitable.
Texas brought back hard-throwing starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi on a three-year, $75 million deal. The team acquired slugger Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins in exchange for infielder Echedry Vargas, shortstop Max Acosta, and left-handed starting pitcher Brayan Mendoza.
The Rangers needed to improve the bullpen, and they made their first move to do that by signing right-hander Jacob Webb to a one-year deal.
“[Webb] has a track record of being a solid, really good pitcher,” said Texas president of baseball operations Chris Young. “Just knowing that we’re going to need — he’s not a veteran per se, in terms of service time, but he’s a veteran in terms of being battle-tested. We got really good reports on the makeup and felt like he’s upgraded our bullpen to add to that.”
Losers
Houston Astros
For a team that has a lot to give this offseason, the Astros left the Winter Meetings without making any noise.
Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown said that the team is optimistic there will be a decision on free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman’s future, and the organization hopes to re-sign him. Brown said that remains their top priority. Manager Joe Espada mirrored those comments, saying they wanted to keep the two-time All-Star.
Outfielder Kyle Tucker is one of the main names rumored to be on the trade block, but he’s still on the Astros through the Winter Meetings. The star right fielder has one year of team control and will be one of the biggest names on the free-agent market next winter.
Tucker would be an enormous upgrade to any lineup, and the Cubs, Yankees, Giants, and Phillies have been mentioned as potential trade destinations.
Chicago Cubs
There have been a lot of talks, promising ones – but that’s about it.
The Cubs are definitely in on pitching phenom Roki Sasaki and have given their first presentation to his representatives after he was posted by the Chiba Lotte Marines of Nippon Professional Baseball ahead of the Winter Meetings.
That was one of their objectives. Another was to land an impact bat, which is why they’ve had interest in Tucker.
Some of the other discussions were also to gauge the temperature of interest on Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki.
“The goal is obviously to keep pushing and to get better,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “We’ll see where that goes. Deals have to come together. We have to try to do some hard deals, but ultimately, I think we have a really great foundation right now. It’s just a question of, ‘Can we build around that and make it better?'”
