One December Thursday morning each year, a large hotel turns, in just a few hours, from the center of the baseball universe to a ghost town. Team executives, agents and media can’t flee soon enough once the Rule 5 draft concludes, marking the end of the Winter Meetings.
We have arrived at a significant benchmark in offseason, as club officials return to their homes from Disney World (the site of this year’s meetings), take stock of what they have accomplished and what still must be done.
Expect this last pre-holiday week to be busy. On Monday, the Major League Baseball executive council is expected to ratify the new Japanese posting system, and that will bring the status of Rakuten Golden Eagles right-hander Masahiro Tanaka into focus.
There is mixed opinion within the industry as to whether the Eagles will post Tanaka. On Saturday morning, Eagles director of scouting Hiroshi Abei wrote to The Post that it is “not true” the club officially has decided to keep Tanaka for 2014. Word should come down this week, however, and once that happens, the other top free-agent starting pitchers — Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana — should get some more clarity on their futures.
With much work still to be done, let’s assess who in all of baseball, not just in the Hot Stove League, belongs in the Winners and Losers circles so far.
Winners
1. Jacoby Ellsbury. He and his agent Scott Boras exceeded industry projections with his seven-year, $153 million contract, and they did so with a team that always is relevant, if nothing else. Up next for Boras: Shin-Soo Choo and Stephen Drew.
2. Athletics. The eternally cash-strapped A’s, two-time defending AL West champions, took a two-year, $22-million shot on Scott Kazmir, traded Brett Anderson to Colorado for interesting pieces and picked up relievers Luke Gregerson and Jim Johnson, and speedy outfielder Craig Gentry.
3. Nationals. Doug Fister is a great pickup from Detroit for a surprisingly low cost. Nate McLouth helps the outfield.
4. Joe Torre. Not a Hot Stove entity, per se, but this coming year, he’ll be a critical presence in the game, seeing through the advancements in instant replay, while also enjoying the ultimate honor of being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
5. Angels. They improved their starting rotation by importing Hector Santiago (from the White Sox) and Tyler Skaggs (from Arizona) in the three-way trade that sent Mark Trumbo to the Diamondbacks.
6. Catchers. No more collisions, starting in either 2014 or 2015.
Losers
1. Phillies. Buying high on Marlon Byrd, giving three years to Carlos Ruiz and bringing in Roberto “Don’t call me Fausto” Hernandez very likely is not the recipe to restoring greatness.
2. Marvin Miller. The founding father of the Players Association saw his Hall of Fame support decrease. It’s a continuing source of embarrassment that he hasn’t been elected yet.
3. Robinson Cano. Yes, he’s a very rich man now, and he’ll have a chance to change his narrative over the next 10 years. Nevertheless, the last ballplayer to draw this kind of grief for this kind of move probably was Alex Rodriguez, when he left Seattle for Texas 13 years ago. And Cano probably has broken A-Rod’s record in this category.
4. Rockies. Justin Morneau and Boone Logan both seem like a big “meh” given their prices. Brett Anderson has upside and also an immense injury history.
5. Managers. Their stress levels will reach new highs as they navigate what’s being called Phase 1 of extended instant replay. It’ll be worth it in the end, at least.
6. Royals. Four-year commitments to Jason Vargas and Omar Infante seem pretty steep.
As for our two local teams, I’d put both closer to the Winners column than the Losers. The Yankees, while losing Cano, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera, have upgraded at catcher (Brian McCann) and in the outfield (Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran). Work remains for second base, the left side of the infield, the starting rotation and the bullpen. They are certain to lead the majors in introductory news conferences, with Beltran coming to Yankee Stadium this week.
The Mets, knowing they needed to overspend, found worthwhile risks in Curtis Granderson and Bartolo Colon. They really need to unload Ike Davis, no matter how small the return, and find some bullpen pieces.