Leaving Major League Baseball’s winter meetings empty-handed can feel worse than it actually is. What it isn’t is the equivalent of waking up on Christmas morning and finding coal in your stocking and no presents under the tree.
Teams that sign free agents or make blockbuster trades during the few days when everyone important in the MLB universe comes together under one roof of a luxury hotel get a huge round of applause for their actions. Reporters dutifully type in the winners and losers on their flights home.
So yeah, the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks appear to be feuding right now. Inertia is not tolerated by fan bases, especially when their division rivals – the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants – sign big names and hold splashy press conferences.
But the winter meetings are a snapshot, not a jury trial. Spring training starts in two months and Opening Day is almost four months away. Plenty of free agents remain available – 197 at last count. Names big and small are dangling like trading bait.
With that caveat, let’s explore why the Padres and Diamondbacks have held on.
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In the case of the Padres, their rampant spending under late owner Peter Seidler appears to have reached its limit.
They were spectators during the Juan Soto sweepstakes, with only memories of him posting in all 162 games in brown and gold in 2023 to tease them. They appear to be having second thoughts about signing infielder Xander Boegarts to an 11-year, $280 million deal that runs through 2033.
So they mostly sat through the meetings at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, where they reportedly fielded offers for starter Dylan Cease and three-time batting champion Luis Arráez — both entering their final year of arbitration before becoming free agents — while keeping the suitors clear. made Boegarts available.
Quitting in particular could yield solid prospects in return, a surprising turnaround for the Padres, who in recent years have been the ones to move promising lower-tier players from their prolific farm system to others in exchange for win-now veterans. It was the only way to keep up with, and sometimes surpass, the Dodgers.
“Every year you always have a budget that you have to meet,” Padres president of baseball operations AJ Preller told reporters during the winter meetings. “This year is actually no different from that point of view. We try to be open to certain players and player-specific moves out there – so that if they line up, we have some flexibility.
“Even though we haven’t agreed on anything yet from a trade or free agent standpoint, it’s been super active. Today, we’re much further ahead from a knowledge standpoint than when we got here.”
Read more: Can’t stop, won’t stop: Dodgers still basking in the aftermath of the World Series title
That’s one way to paint a grin on the decision to swallow hard and sit down. The shift in philosophy began last year when the Padres trimmed nearly $100 million from their payroll, yet won 11 more games than they will in 2023 and valiantly maintained their rivalry with the Chavez Ravine giant, leaving them one win short in the National League Division Series.
But now they must try to maintain that competitive attitude while also coming to terms with the fact that the Dodgers already added starter Blake Snell, who won the NL Cy Young Award in a Padres uniform in 2023, this offseason.
“We’re not naive that there are certain organizations that just have more competitive advantages,” Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters. “That’s not a state secret, is it? We live that every day. … The reality from my seat, our clubhouse seat, our team seat is that it’s still a game that requires you to play well, compete a certain way, play the game a certain way.
The Diamondbacks also tell themselves that they are playing in a way that allows them to overachieve. They are a year removed from using the Dodgers as a springboard to the World Series, a remarkable feat for a team that won just 84 regular-season games. Last season they increased that total to 89 and led the Majors in runs scored, but failed to make the playoffs.
A primary goal is not to add, but to subtract from the one-year, $22.5 million contract of left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery, who went from postseason hero with the Texas Rangers in 2023 to an average albatross of 6 .38 earned runs for the Diamondbacks in 2024.
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It seems like Arizona would have to eat a big chunk of the contract, but the starting pitching market seems to rise with every free agent signing: Snell (five years, $182 million), Max Fried (eight years, $218 million) , Nathan Eovaldi (three years, $75 million).
Perhaps the Diamondbacks can fire Montgomery and replace the lost offense of departing free agents Christian Walker, Joc Pederson and Randal Grichuk. They could trade their outfield depth, moving Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy, both of whom are under team control through 2028.
Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen sounded a lot like Preller as he reviewed the winter meetings with reporters.
“A lot of meetings didn’t really produce much,” he said. “But there has been progress in some conversations in some areas, so we’ll see what happens. Didn’t necessarily expect anything to happen here. We will continue those conversations.”
In addition to staring at the Dodgers’ backs, the Padres and Diamondbacks have to peek over their shoulders at the Giants, whose stunning signing of shortstop Willy Adames is an indication that new president of baseball operations Buster Posey means business.
Read more: Plaschke: Baseball fans can complain, but there’s nothing wrong with the way the Dodgers win
The Dodgers honestly didn’t do much at the meetings other than receive congratulations on their World Series championship. But they accomplished a lot this offseason, signing veteran outfielder Michael Conforto, signing the versatile Tommy Edman to a five-year extension and re-signing high-leverage Blake Treinen in addition to bringing in Snell.
And more is expected from Andrew Friedman, Brandon Gomes and the rest of the Dodgers’ top brass. Whether that applies to the two teams that have stymied them enough recently that they can still feel the sting is undetermined.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
