During MLB‘s winter meetings last week (Dec. 3-6), rumors of a three- or four-team trade buzzed throughout the Opryland complex. But no deal was consummated.
Since baseball’s annual December pow-wow ended, however, we’ve seen plenty of action on the free-agent and trade markets. That continued with a three-way deal between the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks featuring outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, pitcher Trevor Bauer and shortstop Didi Gregorius.
With the multi-team trade, the Reds now have a leadoff hitter (and possibly a center fielder), the Indians have a potential ace starting pitcher and the D-Backs got the shortstop that has taken nearly five months to find.
But which team came out as a winner from this deal and who looks like a loser?
The argument could be made that all three teams did well in this trade, but upon a closer look, that may not quite be the case. Also, which team not involved in the three-way action ended up losing the day? Here’s how we see it.