• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Winter Meetings/Hot Stove

Image courtesy of www.baseballamerica.com

 

The 2013 MLB Winter Meetings are upon us, which means free agency and the trade market are in full swing. Fans wait for owners and general managers of their respective ball club to give them an early Christmas present, as they hope the best players join their favorite team. The Hot Stove heated up quickly and teams made some major moves right before the start of the meetings. The biggest moves so far have come right from our teams in New York.

With the ongoing conundrum that is Alex Rodriguez and his contract, it looked like the New York Yankees were going to have to sit tight this offseason. They also had to deal with their best player, Robinson Cano, becoming a free agent. Cano was looking for mega bucks after leaving agent Scott Boras to join Jay-Z. The Yankees wanted to retain Cano, but not at his asking price. The Yankees offered Cano a 7-year deal worth $165 million, but Cano wanted ten years at $310 million. There was only one team who came close to his demands and it was not the Yankees. The Seattle Mariners swooped in and signed Cano to a ten year deal worth about $240 million.

The Yankees lost their star player, but it did not stop them from going on a spending spree and acquiring 3 great players. First, they signed catcher Brian McCann for five years and $85 million. Next, the Yankees would go after maybe the best outfielder on the market. They wooed former Red Sox outfielder, Jacoby Ellsbury to a huge 7-year deal worth $153 million. If that wasn’t enough, the Yankees then went on to sign former Met, Carlos Beltran. Both players will be huge in the outfield and their offensive production is much needed in a lineup without Cano. The Yankees made some minor moves as well, resigning starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and signing infielder Kelly Johnson.

Now that the Yankees have Ellsbury and Beltran to go along with Ichiro, Brett Gardner, and Alfonso Soriano, they had no use for outfielder Curtis Granderson. Granderson did not wait long to choose a new team. He decided to take his talents across town to Queens with the New York Mets, signing a 4-year deal worth $60 million. This was a deal that needed to get done by the Mets to show their fans that they are ready to spend. They get Granderson coming off an injury plagued season, however, he still has the tools and power to be a great player. The question will be, how will his offense translate to Citi Field’s dimensions? The Mets also added outfielder Chris Young to a 1-year, $7.25 million deal. Young had a disappointing season with the Oakland Athletics last year, but is looking to bounce back. The Mets brought him in hoping his bat returns to form. They will count on Young, Granderson and David Wright to provide the power for the team.

The Winter Meetings have begun and so many moves have been made with more to come. Stay tuned to puresportsny.com for all your news on free agent signings and trades involving the Mets and Yankees this offseason.

Note: Former Yankees manager, Joe Torre was unanimously elected into the MLB Hall of Fame. He was elected alongside managers Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa.

Anthony Rivera: PureSportsNY

By Vernon McKenzie

Graduate of New Institute Of Technology with a BA in Communications with a focus on Television Radio. Owner and Executive Producer of PureSportsNY

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