Pitchers and catchers don't report for another three weeks and a few key free agents have yet to sign contracts (looking at you, Michael Bourn and Kyle Lohse). But most teams have completed their offseason plans, making this an appropriate time to dish out awards to honor the best (and worst) of baseball's winter months.
Best Trade: goes to the Washington Nationals, who gave up one pitcher from the low minor leagues to acquire Denard Span from the Minnesota Twins. Span is under team control for three more seasons at a very reasonable rate and he's a perfect fit for the Nationals as a speedy and defensively-sound center fielder. His presence keeps Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth in the corners (where they belong) and allowed the team to trade away Michael Morse (restocking the farm system).
Worst Trade: goes to the Kansas City Royals. They gave up their best trade chip, minor league star Wil Myers, for two years of James Shields, who probably won't even be enough to get the Royals to the playoffs in 2013. Not when their other starting pitchers are Jeremy Guthrie, Ervin Santana, Bruce Chen, and Luke Hochevar. If the Royals were going to go "all in," they should have pushed all their chips to the middle of the table instead of just their best one.
Boldest Move: goes to the Toronto Blue Jays, who saw a window of opportunity in the AL East and decided to go for it. They dipped into their farm system to trade for R.A. Dickey, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, and Mark Buehrle without giving up any significant pieces from their major league roster. It's a huge financial risk but one that makes a lot of sense.
Best Free Agent Value: goes to the Toronto Blue Jays, for signing Melky Cabrera to a two-year deal worth $14 million. Melky doesn't have to be the All-Star player he was last year for this contract to be a good investment. If he does get back to that level though, this will be a huge steal.
Most Depressing Rumor: goes to the Colorado Rockies, for this doozy a few days ago: "The club is 'aggressively pursuing' free agent right-handers Carl Pavano and Derek Lowe..."
The "Chone Figgins Award" for the Worst Free Agent Contract: goes to the Los Angeles Angels, for signing Josh Hamilton to a five-year deal worth $125 million. They're already paying Albert Pujols a Scrooge McDuck-sized fortune for his decline years; now add Hamilton to the ledger, and things could get ugly fast.
The "Adrian Beltre Award" for the Best Free Agent Contract Worth More Than $60 Million: goes to the Atlanta Braves, for signing B.J. Upton to a five-year deal worth $75 million. He gives the Braves a fantastic defensive outfield and provides the right-handed power and speed that their lineup needed. And he's still only 28 years old, so he could theoretically have a few peak seasons left. Upton at this contract is a significantly better deal than Hamilton for $50 million more.
The "George Steinbrenner Award" for the Craziest Spending Spree: goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers, for signing ... well, almost everyone. They inked Zack Greinke to a six-year, $147 million deal. They paid a lump sum of $25.7 million to a Japanese team just for the right to negotiate with left-handed pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, and then they signed him for another $36 million over six years. Even mediocre reliever Brandon League got $22.5 million over three years to serve as the team's closer. And all of this came on the heels of a money-crazed summer that saw the Dodgers trade for the bloated contracts of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and Hanley Ramirez.
The "Addition by Subtraction Award" for Wisely Letting Free Agents Walk: goes to the Detroit Tigers, for showing Delmon Young and Jose Valverde the door. Their play, and their antics, won't be missed.
The "Raul Ibanez Award (Part 1)" for Acquiring the Most Unathletic and/or Slowest Players: goes to the Seattle Mariners, who successfully cornered this market by bringing in Michael Morse, Kendrys Morales, Jason Bay, and Raul Ibanez.
The "Raul Ibanez Award (Part 2)" for Acquiring the Oldest Players: goes to the New York Yankees, who signed Kevin Youkilis (33), Hiroki Kuroda (37), Ichiro Suzuki (39), Andy Pettitte (40), and Mariano Rivera (43).
The "Paula Abdul Award" for "...I'm sorry, but what are they doing?": goes to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Seriously, what are they doing? They entered the offseason with too many outfielders, so they've been blatantly trying to trade away their best one, Justin Upton for months now -- without any success. But somehow they found room in the outfield to sign Cody Ross -- a glorified platoon bat -- for three years and $21 million. Hard to believe Justin was a fan of that acquisition. Plus the D'Backs traded away perhaps their top pitching prospect and first-round pick from 2011, Trevor Bauer, for a minor league shortstop named Didi Gregorius. There doesn't seem to be a coherent plan in Arizona.
The "2013 Reunion Tour Award" for Getting the Band Back Together: goes to the San Francisco Giants, for re-signing Marco Scutaro, Angel Pagan, and Jeremy Affeldt, three key players from their championship run.
The "Juan Pierre Award" for Sacrificing Quality For Quantity: goes to the Boston Red Sox, who apparently ignored the "10 Items or Less" sign at the checkout counter. They went binge shopping and acquired catcher David Ross, first baseman Mike Napoli, shortstop Stephen Drew, outfielders Shane Victorino and Jonny Gomes, starter Ryan Dempster, and relievers Joel Hanrahan and Koji Uehara. They might not be any better in 2013, but at least they won't be any better with a whole new cast of fun players.
And Finally, the Award for the Single Worst Offseason: goes to the Philadelphia Phillies in a unanimous decision. They managed to acquire both Michael Young and Delmon Young. On purpose.
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