[LondonYankee]

January 1st 2014

Winter Meeting Round-up

Before the Winter Meetings got underway I tied up some other business. Two international free agents were signed, Kiyonori Katayama a closer from Japan and more bullpen help, reliever Pablo Perez out of Cuba. Both would be likely to start out at AAA but looked like they could potentially push for time in the big league pretty quickly.
I'd also picked LF Jaff Decker as a rule 5 draft acquisition from the Padres. I didn't see Decker sticking around, I just figured he could be used in the trades I was hoping to get going at the upcoming meetings.

Heading into the meetings I'd opened talks with free agent SP Ubaldo Jimenez from Cleveland and was confident I could get a $1.2m one year deal closed. Jimenez hadn't had the best of seasons but Damon had good things to say about him and I trust the scouts judgment.
My three main aims for the winter meetings were to get a top class starting pitcher, an offensive force at 1B and look for a SS who could share time with Jeter.
1B was the first situation sorted. I sat down with the Pirates GM and sealed a deal for my 1st choice target. Brandon Belt had joined Pittsburgh mid season from the Giants and hit .297/.382/.450 for the two clubs combined. We sent two SP's to Pittsburgh, David Phelps and Ivan Nova. Belt has a year left on $5m deal and he's then arbitration eligible.
Next up I worked a deal for Reds SS Zack Cozart. The Reds took Jaff Decker and another outfielder Melky Mesa in exchange. Cozart wasn't about to blow things up offensively with a .248 average but he was a solid SS with a 1.100 efficiency and could also cover 3B.

Between those two deals Jimenez confirmed that he would sign for $1.2m for a year.

The next deal was also with the Reds. This is one I'd really wanted but had tried to keep my interest quiet. SP Josh Johnson had been traded to Cincinnati from Toronto mid season and had a combined record of 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA. He'd also signed a 4 year $58m deal with the Reds going on to win the World Series with them. The Reds however were keen on some prospects we had coming up and I eventually gave up LF Zoilo Almonte, RF Slade Heathcott and 2B Angelo Gumbs to get my man.

During the meeting I'd also made contact with Kevin Youkilis' agent. There weren't the quality of 3B available and although he was unspectacular last year for us, Youk was solid and I figured he could do a job for another year as a stop gap. I hadn't extended him earlier due to his salary demands. Now as a free agent he clearly wasn't attracting much interest and his services were going cheaper. I think I'll get a deal done for around $3m for the year.

While no other deals were concluded at the meetings I'd started talking to the Astros about adding some depth in the outfield in the shape of JD Martinez. The Mets were showing interest in SP Vidal Nuno and Minnesota were chasing Jayson Nix. We'll see how these deals pan out over the next few weeks.

I was very pleased with the work done at my first winter meetings and was convinced we'd come out of it stronger than we went in.