The stove is now officially hot as Winter Meetings approach. Jacob deGrom has signed a monster five-year deal with the Texas Rangers. deGrom and his two Cy Young awards are headed to Texas to join a Rangers team trying to win.
The Rangers went 68-94 last season but have added deGrom to a team that has star talent including Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Martin Perez, Nathaniel Lowe amongst others. Adding the best pitcher in the game, despite his availability concerns, makes them much better.
The Angels have made three nice moves to bolster their roster. They’re going to be better. But where do they stand in this suddenly loaded division? Four teams are trying to win it, and the Angels might be the fourth best team now.
With that in mind, the Angels must make a statement move to ensure they’re competitive in this division. If they don’t make that statement move, tougher conversations have to be had.
The Brewers are reportedly holding onto their stars. Corbin Burnes, Willy Adames, and Brandon Woodruff were names being floated around in trade rumors for this offseason, but it sounds like the Brewers have said they’re unavailable. Adames would’ve been an interesting potential trade target for the Angels if he were to be made available.
The Red Sox signed Chris Martin to a two-year deal worth $17.5 million dollars. I would’ve liked to see Martin land with the Angels after he was superb with the Dodgers, and they do need bullpen help, but at $8.75 million dollars annually, thanks but no thanks.
The Mariners traded Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro to the Brewers in exchange for Kolten Wong. While Wong definitely makes Seattle better, it also likely eliminates them from the shortstop market. They were in talks with some of the big shortstops available. Winker leaves the AL West after the brawl incident with the Angels this past season.
Next. With deGrom headed to Texas, the Angels must respond in a big way. dark