Winter Meetings Winners

MLB's Winter Meetings have come and gone, and we didn't really see a lot of player movement.  Well, we saw a few trades and free agent signings, but the two biggest deals of the offseason took place before the Winter Meetings even started.  We'll, of course, see the top available players all sign within the next few weeks, but, for the most part, the Meetings themselves were relatively quiet.

That doesn't mean teams were just sitting around twiddling their thumbs, though.  In fact, there have been some very active GMs, and we can still declare some winners and losers based on what's been done so far.

Winners
Angels-I'll start with the obvious.  Getting Shohei Otani was just the beginning.  The Angels also re-signed Justin Upton, then added Ian Kinsler and Zack Cozart, as well as reliever Jim Johnson.  They aren't done, either.  Don't be surprised if they're in the mix for a starter and/or J.D. Martinez.  Add these players to an Angels team that already boasts Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Andrelton Simmons, and you've got a squad that could challenge the Astros in the AL West next season.  (Either that or they'll end up being the big bust of 2018.)

Yankees-After the Giancarlo coup, you might've thought the Yankees wouldn't do much else during the Winter Meetings.  Wrong.  They traded Chase Headley to free up some more salary, and evidently there are some Clint Frazier-for-Gerrit Cole discussions with Pittsburgh.  CC Sabathia re-signed, which wasn't exactly a surprise, and there's still at least one move to come (they need either a second or third baseman).  For a team that went to Game 7 of the ALCS against the eventual champions last season, they're definitely going all-in for 2018.  The last time they did that was in the winter of 2008-09.  And that season turned out pretty well.

Padres-Yes, it seems strange to call San Diego a "winner."  However, the Padres have made strides to be less bad next season.  They got former franchise stalwart Chase Headley back from the Yankees and got Brian Mitchell in that deal, too.  Then they added shortstop Freddy Galvis from the Phillies.  They've also been linked to Eric Hosmer, even though that seems unlikely.  Even if they don't get Hosmer, maybe a reunion with Adrian Gonzalez is possible.  Either way, their perpetual rebuilding mode could actually yield some dividends in 2018.

Astros-They have the core of a World Series championship team coming back, so they didn't really need to do much.  But the Astros were still active in addressing the only real weakness they had last season--the bullpen.  They added former Mets setup man Joe Smith and former Cubs closer Hector Rondon, which more than makes up for the loss of the departed Luke Gregerson, who signed with the Cardinals.

Losers
Red Sox-This one was obvious.  While the Yankees made the biggest splash of anyone with the Stanton trade, their archrivals could just sit there and watch.  The Red Sox don't figure to be quiet for long.  You know they'll do something.  (Boston is still the most logical landing spot for Hosmer.)  And they're gonna have to.  Because the Yankees have established themselves as the unquestioned AL East favorites for 2018.

Marlins-It seems a bit harsh to call the Marlins "losers," when they're doing exactly what they set out to do.  But you still can't help but feel for their fans.  They've traded their three best players, and it sure doesn't look like they're done selling off the remainder of the team like spare parts.  I've argued that it's not much different than what they did 20 years ago, but Marlins fans at least got to enjoy a World Series title first that time.  This time, they've got new owners who, instead of investing in their young talent and adding pieces, they're blowing a team that wasn't that good to begin with completely apart.

Giants-Calling their 2017 season a disappointment would be an understatement.  Which means they had a lot of needs entering the Winter Meetings.  And they did nothing to address them!  Granted, it wasn't completely their fault.  They had a trade for Giancarlo all worked out, only for him to say no.  Ohtani also turned them down.  The only significant thing San Francisco has done is trade starting pitcher Matt Moore to Texas.  Will they eventually do something?  Almost certainly (I think Jay Bruce would be a great fit for them).  But so far?  Nada.

Rays-Why the Rays?  Because they're in a tough spot.  Their roster as it stands isn't good enough to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox (or the Blue Jays and Orioles, for that matter).  As a small-market team, they're limited in what they can do.  But not doing anything isn't really an option, either.  So they need to decide if they want to rebuild and trade off some of their better players like Evan Longoria and Chris Archer or if they want to try and contend for a wild card.  What they can't do is stand pat.

Things will change as the remaining big-name free agents sign, and there are still a lot of free agents out there.  But, as of now, the Angels and Yankees have done the most to improve their teams for 2018.  And they're by far the big offseason winners so far.