Top Stories from this Past Winter

When the Padres and James Shields inked a 4 year 75 million dollar deal this past week that pretty much put an end to the big off-season signings. With teams reporting to spring training less than a week away it's time to look back at the top stories from this past Winter.

St. Louis and Atlanta deal on November 17th
No doubt that this deal was a shocker that came out of nowhere. No one in Atlanta expected them to trade away one of the youngest stars in the game. But this trade definitely made sense for both teams as Atlanta improved their pitching as they acquired Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins. St. Louis also filled the hole in right field as they got Jason Heyward in return. St. Louis also acquired Jordan Walden a right handed reliever that has a posted a career 3.10 ERA in 5 seasons. Walden could be a surprise as he has been a very solid reliever throughout his career.

Cubs sign Lester at the Winter Meetings
There is no doubt the Cubs got a lot better this past off-season. But they wouldn't even be close to a contender without signing the 31 year old lefty, Jon Lester. Lester was probably the best free agent pitcher on the market and cubs shocked everyone as the signed Lester to a six year 155 million dollar deal. Chicago made a huge splash at the winter meetings and then continued to add to their team. As they acquired Miguel Montero, Jason Motte, Tommy La Stella, David Ross, and Dexter Fowler. All of which should improve the Cubs in 2015.

Athletics Trading Spree
After losing a heartbreaking AL Wild Card Game to Kansas City the A's knew they had a tough off-season ahead of them. As Oakland was losing major guys to free agency. The players who stood out the most were Jon Lester, Jason Hammel, Jonny Gomes, Luke Gregerson, and Alberto Callaspo. Even with all of these free agents leaving Oakland managed to sign Billy Butler. This was a very good signing by the A's as Butler has been a solid DH in his career. Later in November Oakland acquired Ike Davis from Pittsburgh. Davis, who had a rough 2014 will also be a decent addition as he has had a couple of solid seasons before his tough 2014. Less than a week later the A's made a blockbuster deal sending All-Star Josh Donaldson to Toronto. In return they received Brett Lawrie, Sean Nolin, Kendall Graveman, and Franklin Barreto. Considering who Oakland got in return the trade didn't look too bad. But if Oakland wanted to win this year then they decreased their chances greatly by trading Donaldson. Not long after that the A's traded away Brandon Moss to Cleveland for Joe Wendle. This move created a lot of controversy as from the looks of it Oakland was starting to try a rebuilding process. The next day they traded Jeff Smardzija to the south side of Chicago in return for multiple prospects. In a matter of two weeks Oakland had traded away most off their star players in return for mostly prospects. The rest of 2014 was quiet for Oakland as they only made one other deal sending catcher Derek Norris to San Diego. In January it looked as if Oakland wanted to compete again. As on January 10th they acquired Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar from Tampa Bay. Just 4 days later they sent away Escobar to Washington in return for Tyler Clippard. After looking back at the A's busy off-season they basically freed up money and also gained multiple prospects. Oakland could contend once again this year even after sending away their all star players.

San Diego is Ready to Compete
We all know the story of the Padres this off-season. To sum it all up they rebuilt their team and had one of the best off-seasons in MLB history. They added Justin Upton, Will Myers, Matt Kemp, Will Middlebrooks, Derek Norris, James Shields, and Clint Barmes. In acquiring most of these players they did take away a lot of highly ranked prospects. This just shows that San Diego wants to win now and I'd look for them to make a couple of more moves before this upcoming season is done. There's no question about it that San Diego is a serious contender but will they be able to keep up with Los Angeles and San Francisco in that division? It will be interesting to watch in 2015.

Red Sox Sign Ramirez and Sandoval
After capturing their 8th World Series title in 2013, Boston had a disappointing 2014 that saw them go 71-91. But this past Winter they signed two key free agents. As on November 25th they inked deals with Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez. Each of them were the top free agents in this past off-season and will definitely improve Boston as they are now once again ready to be the team they were in 2013. Can the Red Sox go from worst to first two times in two years? They are also another team to watch upon this upcoming season.
-Chris Suddeth