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Open Discussion: Day Three of the Winter Meetings

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Last night saw some big moves, including a massive trade that probably saw the Diamondbacks pay way too much for Shelby Miller. I’ll let Dave Cameron sum it up:

This wasn’t the only huge move they made, as Arizona also had the Zack Greinke trade last week, where they will pay him roughly $10,000 per pitch thrown, and over $1 M per start for the next six years.

In the process, Arizona has added two very good pitchers to the top of their rotation, although they definitely paid the price. Their massive TV deal might make the Greinke signing manageable, but unloading their farm system for Miller could hurt.

Every year there is a team that goes out and buys huge upgrades and gets declared the big off-season winner. Maybe those teams were losing teams the year before, or maybe they had a specific need and filled it, similar to what Arizona did. Usually the approach doesn’t work. It didn’t work for the Marlins, the Blue Jays, the Mariners, or the Padres in recent years. I’m not saying that Arizona is doomed, but baseball is much more complex than “add two top pitchers and turn a 79 win team into a World Series contender”. And if it doesn’t work for Arizona, then they could be in line for some tough times ahead, possibly rebuilding in a year or two. Like the Marlins, the Blue Jays, the Mariners, and the Padres in recent years.

That’s my quick thought on yesterday’s moves. Here’s the open thread for today’s discussions. As usual, we will have all of the daily rumors and news up on the site. And since this is an off-topic thread, and doesn’t really have to stick to baseball, I’ll share the following, which is a Prince cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” that was making the rounds yesterday. It’s kind of less of a cover and more of a totally different version. Either way, it’s pretty amazing.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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