John Harper of the Daily News picks his winners and losers of the just concluded Baseball Winter Meetings. Among the losers he tabs the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves for losing key players, and the Toronto Blue Jays for doing essentially nothing.
As for the winners he goes with the Washington Nationals, Seattle Mariners, and oh the New York Mets.
Surprise, surprise, the Mets practically dominated the otherwise sleepy Winter Meetings with the Curtis Granderson press conference and then the unexpected signing of Bartolo Colon — which still isn’t official. (Presumably, as one NL scout mused, the Mets won’t require Colon to complete a mile-run as part of his physical).
Now, let’s not go overboard here in congratulating them for adding $30 million in salary so far for next season, considering they had some $50 million come off the books in expiring contracts. And indications are their payroll is still going to be under $90 million, which means they’re still essentially operating as a small-market franchise.Nevertheless, while the Granderson signing offered some much-needed credibility, the Colon deal changes any perception the Mets were simply going to punt another season and wait for Matt Harvey to return from Tommy John surgery in 2015.
Read the full article here.
For all the reasons Harper cites in his article, the Mets were winners in Orlando. In addition to the two big signings the Mets buzz was all over the Dolphin Hotel and they kept the rumor mill churning from the moment they arrived and up to the closing act.
