Who Won/Who Lost?

Who Won, Lost Over Long Winter?

2/10/2010 12:00 PM ET

Ed Price, Senior MLB Writer for FanHouse

What to do now that the Super Bowl is over and spring training still hasn't arrived? Here at MLB FanHouse, we Mind the Gap.

Baseball's offseason began with Hideki Matsui's raising of the World Series MVP trophy. It ends in a few days when camps open (except for those lonely remaining free agents yet to sign).

In between, Matsui and a bunch of others changed teams. With most of the moves shaking out, we can start looking at the winners and losers:

Winners

Yankees: They essentially swapped Matsui, Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera and Phil Coke for Curtis Granderson, Javier Vazquez, Nick Johnson, Randy Winn and Boone Logan, with more playing time for Brett Gardner. It's hard not to think that they avoided the trap of keeping a championship team intact only to get older and see other teams gain.

Ben Sheets: He got a $10 million base salary from Oakland. which is approximately infinity dollars per inning he pitched in 2009. Only Andy Pettitte and John Lackey signed free-agent deals that averaged more than eight figures annually, and Sheets' last win was Sept. 6, 2008. And if Sheets is healthy, he will almost certainly pitch in a pennant race -- for the A's or, if their offense is putrid again, for the team to which he's flipped.

Mariners: While its improvement from 2008 to 2009 wasn't supported by their underlying statistics, Seattle did take measures to try to keep climbing. The M's added Cliff Lee, Chone Figgins, Milton Bradley, Brandon League and Casey Kotchman.

Matt Holliday: After semi-flopping in Oakland, he didn't want to go back to the American League. All Holliday really wanted was to stay in St. Louis as Albert Pujols' protection, and there didn't seem to be any other team gung-ho to sign him away. Yet the Cardinals gave Holliday seven years and $120 million.

Twins: ... if they can finish off a long-term deal for Joe Mauer. To keep the most valuable player in the game -- while adding Orlando Hudson and Jim Thome -- would position Minnesota well for the long-term and the short-term as it opens its new park.

Mark Teahen: He was a candidate to be non-tendered by the Royals but instead got traded to the White Sox, who then signed him to a three-year, $14 million deal. So not only does he go to a contender, but he also gets a long-term contract.

Losers

Mets: The luster is off their new park, thanks to a 70-92 season. The Mets needed to win back New York fans and improve their team beyond the rebound that can come if all the injured players come back. Yet other than signing Jason Bay, they did nothing of note: no mid-rotation pitcher, no front-line catcher, no first baseman, no setup man.

Johnny Damon: A combination of ego, miscommunication, overplaying of hands and differing views of Damon's ability led to his divorce from the Yankees. As one person who talks to both sides said, there is "disappointment" all around, on Damon's part and the team's part. New York was a good fit for him, and he was a known fit for the Yankees. As a result, the guy who was fourth in the AL in runs scored last year is still unsigned.

Cubs: Maybe Marlon Byrd turns out to be a good sign, but for now, he's a 31-year-old who has a .388 career slugging percentage outside of Arlington, Texas. Otherwise, all the Cubs did was trade one headache (Milton Bradley) for another bad contract (Carlos Silva) and take chances on Chad Tracy, Xavier Nady and Kevin Millar. Is that enough to make up eight games on the Cardinals?

Russell Branyan: After hitting 31 homers in 2009 at age 34, he couldn't cash in on a breakout season and has yet to sign. Maybe it's those 946 strikeouts in 2,431 career at-bats (more than Vladimir Guerrero has in 7,000 career at-bats).

Dodgers: The playoffs made clear they need a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. But despite drawing 3.76 million fans, Los Angeles' big offseason additions were Jamey Carroll, Alfredo Amezaga, Brian Giles, Nick Green and Reed Johnson.

Akinori Iwamura: All he did in three seasons for the Rays was hit .281 with 201 runs scored in 344 games. His thanks? Getting traded to the Pirates. Goodbye, playoff shares.