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What Team’s Outlook Changed the Most?
Engbloom: The Mariners revamped the right side of their infield with singing Hart, trading for Logan Morrison and, prior to the meetings, snaring Robinson Cano. Now if only they can make a move for a decent outfielder…
Festa: No one’s outlook changed dramatically as a result of moves they made at the Winter Meetings. Perhaps the Mets outlook ticked up a bit with the signing of a stable veteran to eat up some innings lost by Matt Harvey, and to possibly provide mentorship to an otherwise young starting rotation.
Holt: This has to be the Mariners doesn’t it? They get a superstar in Robinson Cano before the meetings, and then pick up a couple of potential impact bats in Hart and Morrison, even if it remains to be seen how they’ll actually fit onto the lineup card. There’s a lot to like about what the Angels did as well. They need pitching and both Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs should fit into their rotation very nicely.
Lumalu: I don’t think any one team’s outlook changed that much during the Winter Meetings. For the offseason as a whole, the Colorado Rockies seem to have their eyes set on continuing to be bad. They traded outfielder Dexter Fowler to the Houston Astros for spare parts, and signed first baseman Justin Morneau to a two-year deal despite having multiple internal options to plug in at first base. I do like the Brett Anderson acquisition, but the other moves do not make sense.
McFarlane: The Angels secured two semi-exciting young pitchers and some more speed and defense at the cost of a little power. For a team that ranked 6th in SLG in 2013 and 11th in BsR (FanGraphs’ baserunning component stat), this looks like they dealt from strength to bolster their rotation and balance out their production. I am about 10% more optimistic about LAA’s chances to contend in 2014, given their shrewd acquisitions of value thus far.