Top 10 Deals in MLB's Winter Meetings | IXGAMES

Once a year, all teams in the MLB gather and discuss deals under one roof.  The recent trades were very limited due to the failing economy, restricting the general managers with their trades. There were clear winners and if there are winners, there are also losers in the trades that occurred. The Winter Meetings was full of activity and here are the top ten deals that occurred during the meeting: Upper half of the list First on top of the trades is the three-way deal between the Detroit Tigers, the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the famous New York Yankees. The three-way trade involved right-handers Ian Kennedy and Edwin Jackson going to Arizona. It also included Austin Jackson, Max Scherzer, and left-handers Daniel Schlereth and Phil Coke heading out to Detroit. And last in the three-way deal is New York receiving Curtis Granderson; this deal could make the Yankees a lot better or just the other way around. Next best deal is with the Atlanta Braves trading Rafael Soriano to the Tampa Bay Rays for Jesse Chavez – a right hander. Top three is the signing of Brad Penny in a 1-year contract. Brad Penny is prone to injuries but $7.5 million plus some incentives could be enough to provide insurance if ever Joel Pineiro goes down. Fourth on the list of top deals this 2009 Winter Meetings is the signing of Rich Harden by the Rangers, as the Chicago Cubs let him get away easily this time. The fifth top deal is the trade between the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers. The Orioles traded Chris Ray for Kevin Millwood. The Rangers also added in $3 million in the trade. Millwood is set to earn $12 million. The deal will clear space for Rich Harden who has a $6.5 million salary plus incentives. Bottom half of the top 10 deals To start off the bottom half in the top ten is the signing of Randy Wolf by the Milwaukee Brewers. Wolf’s contract states 3 years with a club option for a fourth year. The 33-year old left-hander is set to earn a solid $29.75 million guaranteed. The seventh deal includes LaTroy Hawkins also signing in with the Brewers for 2 seasons. The 8th on the list is Carl Pavano accepting the arbitration with the Minnesota Twins – the American League Central champions. The 9th and 10th on the list is a move made by the Houston Astros where they traded for right-hander Matt Lindstrom and also signing another right-hander in the name of Brandon Lyon who is also worth $15 million for 3 seasons. Winning deals Some of the deals made in this year’s Winter Meetings were poorly decided upon but a lot of teams are also winners from the trades and deals they made. Some of the winning team-deals include the New York Yankees, the Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Seattle Mariners. Losing deals were made by the Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels.