MLB Hot Stove: Grading team activity during the Winter Meetings

The Winter Meetings used to be the place where the general managers made major MLB Hot Stove decisions.

For the past few seasons, this hasn’t been the case, but some teams did engage in some MLB Hot Stove activity. Unfortunately though, not enough.

Since a few days have passed, it’s time to look closely at the 30 teams and their activity during the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas.

The grades will be dependent on the money spent, the acquisitions and their costs, and how those moves helped or hurt the roster. The grades will also be dependent on whether or not a team did anything at all – think of it as a fan-engagement grade. I am not including the Rule 5 draft results in these grades.

There were moves made before the Winter Meetings and there have been a few made since the meetings have ended. Those – like the Paul Goldschmidt trade to the Cardinals or the Yonder Alonso trade to the White Sox – are not factored into the grades. These grades are dependent on the activity that took place while the general managers, presidents, managers, and players were actively working out of the Mandalay Bay in Vegas from December 9 until December 13.

At the end of the post, I will also include which team was the biggest winner and which one was the biggest loser during this time, too. This is based on moves made, so teams that didn’t do anything will not be considered.

With the lack of activity at the Winter Meetings as a whole, it might be time to wonder whether the even should be held at all.