MLB Trade Rumors and News: Mariners acquire Edwin Encarnacion in 3-team deal to end Winter Meetings

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• With the Winter Meetings almost wrapping up, Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto brokered a three-team deal in the final hours of the event in Las Vegas in which Seattle acquired slugger Edwin Encarnacion, a draft pick and cash from the Indians and it sent recently acquired first baseman Carlos Santana to the Rays. To complete the trade, the Rays sent Jake Bauers to Cleveland in exchange for Yandy Diaz and a PTBNL. The crazy part about this deal was that Dipoto did it FROM HIS HOSPITAL BED!
• The Brewers added to their bullpen by acquiring Alex Claudio from the Rangers in exchange for a Competitive Balance Round A pick in next year’s draft.
• Charlie Morton was the first major starting pitching domino to fall on Wednesday as he agreed to a two-year deal with the Rays. While it is surprising that Tampa was Morton’s landing spot, it was even more surprising that the Rays were willing to pay him $15 million a year for the next two years.
• The Yankees, meanwhile, continued their efforts to bolster their rotation as they brought J.A. Happ back on a two year deal with a vesting option. This deal took a while to get down yesterday as the two sides had differences of opinion on the length of the deal, but compromise ruled the day.
• The Dodgers have been doing their best to remain busy, but they seem most interested at the moment in getting rid of some outfielders, most notably Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig. The Dodgers may have a bunch of money, but they really want to operate under the luxury tax and moving their extra outfielders seems to be a big part of their plan to do that.
• That said, the Dodgers did make an acquisition as well yesterday(well, super late last night anyways) as they snagged Joe Kelly on a three year deal to bolster their bullpen. Kelly was a big part of Boston’s postseason run and that, combined with a really live arm, got him a pretty nice payday.
• The Mets missed having one of their better relievers, so they went and brought him back as Jeurys Familia is a Met again, this time on a three year deal. As far as trade deadline deals go, this how the Mets would have drawn it up in an ideal world.
• It wasn’t all signings yesterday, we also had ourselves a trade as the Reds acquired Tanner Roark from the Washington Nationals. While Roark can’t be particularly pleased that he has to play in Cincinnati during his walk year, the bigger news here is that the trade market has been REALLY quiet in terms of actual moves so far this offseason. Plenty of rumors sure....but not much in the way of actual movement.
• The Rangers got themselves a potential rotation stalwart as they were able to lock down Lance Lynn for the next three years. Lynn does have an arm injury in his background and 2018 wasn’t his best year, but he has three 3+ fWAR seasons since 2014 and for a Rangers team that is going to need some steadiness over the next couple of years, Lynn is a fine get.
• The Tigers look to be retooling heavily over the next few years....a necessary evil with an aging and ineffective roster. Detroit decided to bring in Jordy Mercer on a buy low, one year deal after Mercer had a less than stellar campaign in 2018.
• Andrew McCutchen will return to Pennsylvania next season, though this time it’ll be on the Eastern side of the state, as he agreed to a three-year, $50 million deal with the Phillies on Tuesday. Philadelphia will be the fourth team whose roster he’s been on within the past year, following the Pirates, Giants, and Yankees.
• The Blue Jays made the most surprising move of the Winter Meetings to date (not that that’s saying a whole lot), releasing five-time All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki with $38 million remaining on his contract.
• The White Sox boosted the middle of their rotation with a guy who would be a back-of-the-rotation upgrade at best for most other teams, acquiring veteran righty Ivan Nova from the Pirates in exchange for minor-league pitcher Yordi Rosario and international slot money.
• Our Andersen Pickard caught up with Alex Cora, manager of the reigning World Champion Red Sox, to talk about Dustin Pedroia’s status heading into next season.
• Reports surfaced Tuesday night that Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde will be the Orioles’ next manager, though Baltimore’s new GM, Mike Elias, swiftly denied them. No need to rush, after all — it’s only the middle of December.
• The Royals seem to love players that can steal bases, but can’t actually get on base that much in order to do so. Kansas City came to terms with Billy Hamilton on a one year, $5.25 million deal.
• The Tigers seem to be trying to collect bounce-back, buy-low candidates that they could feasibly flip at the trade deadline, most recently snatching up Tyson Ross on a one-year deal on Monday.
• Nathan Eovaldi was a hero as the Red Sox won their fourth World Series of the 21st century, and Boston was so fond of him and his work that, despite some real injury risk, they locked him down with a four-year, $68 million-dollar deal.