It’s never too early to deem offseason acquisitions busts or steals, and there’s already been plenty of moves we can analyze so far this winter.
Over the next few slides, we’ll identify a handful of those transactions that fall under those two categories.
What constitutes a bust or a steal? In short, teams that overextend themselves either financially or with prospects have overpaid for a player. This winter, Ben Zobrist and Shelby Miller were involved in deals that teams may regret down the road.
On the other hand, deals that are team friendly in relation to the free-agent and trade markets normally earn steal status. Johnny Cueto’s $130 million deal looks like a bargain when considering what other hurlers have gone for this winter, while Todd Frazier and John Jaso can each make an impact with their new teams for relatively little cost.
Let us know what you think in the comments section below. Are you thrilled that your team added one of these players for the price that they did? Disappointed? Who else can be considered a steal or bust from this busy winter?
The games still need to be played, and each of the players on this list are talented enough to live up to their price tag. But as of now, we can still make some assumptions based off the data at hand.