MLB Bullets Is Never Going Back (To Nashville)

Quick minor league update. The Iowa Cubs announced yesterday that they will be extending the netting at Principal Park in Des Moines to the far ends of each dugout by Opening Night. I expect that this will soon be the way it is in every ballpark.

By the way, the title refers to this song. It was either that or this Camper Van Beethoven song.

• I did this at the trade deadline and I'll do it again, although maybe not quite so extensively. Cliff Corcoran has the winners and losers from the Winter Meetings.
• Jayson Stark has the winners and losers from the Winter Meetings.
• Matt Snyder has the winners and losers from the Winter Meetings.
• Ricky Doyle has the winners and losers from the Winter Meetings. (Warning: slideshow ahead.)
• Once again, Richard Justice can only do half his job as he has the winners from the Winter Meetings, but no losers.
• David Schoenfield reminds us that "winning" the Winter Meetings doesn't always lead to winning the next summer.
• Will Leitch thinks evaluating trades right after they happen is foolish.
• Dave Cameron explains that no one single trade, no matter how bad, can sink a ballclub all by itself.
• A general recap of the Winter Meetings by the numbers.
• Everyone is now just waiting on Jason Heyward. If I had more time, I'd write a "Waiting For Godot" parody with Epstein and Mozeliak sitting around and waiting for Heyward to show up.
• Tom Verducci thinks the bidding on Heyward is part of a Cubs-Cardinals rivalry that is just now ready for baseball's prime time.
• Verducci also talked to a lot of baseball people at the Winter Meetings and most of them saw Heyward as a risky investment.
• Why the Giants dropped out the Heyward bidding. Money was part of it, but not the only part.
• The Giants are still looking for a starter as they expect to win the World Series in 2016 because it's an even year.
• Everyone has the Dodgers listed as a "loser" at the Winter Meetings. Mark Saxon talks about where the Dodgers go from here.
• The Dodgers are now turning their attentions to Johnny Cueto.
• Cueto (or at least his agent) seem to be interested in playing for the Cardinals, but is a five-year old fight standing in the way of Cueto becoming a Card?
• There's a big report from Scott Miller about Yasiel Puig and how he's managed to get nearly everyone on the Dodgers to hate him. One exception is Adrian Gonzalez, who is still trying to mentor Puig and who will one day be the Anne Bancroft to Puig's Patty Duke in the Movie of the Week story of Puig's life.
• Some big news from Cuba is that Jose Abreu will be included in the MLB tour of Cuba next week. Traditionally, defecting players have been forbidden to return to the island for at least eight years.
• MLB is also working with Mexican baseball authorities to re-work the relationship between the Mexican League (LMB) and MLB so that more Mexican talent can come north. The first step took place last week when LMB abolished the blacklist for amateur Mexican players who signed with MLB teams.
• Rob Neyer thinks the Yankees made a wise move in picking up Starlin Castro.
• The Yankees still have several more moves to make before Spring Training, says GM Brian Cashman.
• Adam Rubin says the Mets rebounded nicely from the disappointment of not signing Ben Zobrist.
• The Reds are still trying to deal Aroldis Chapman and are using his possible suspension as a selling point, arguing that teams might get an extra year of control if Chapman gets a significant suspension. I'm guessing that's not going over well.
• C. Trent Rosecrans writes that the Reds are disappointed with the offers they've been getting for all their players this offseason.
• The Orioles have pulled their offer to free agent Chris Davis.
• Trades that were made. A breakdown of the deal that sent Christian Bethancourt to the Padres.
• A similar breakdown of the deal sending Yunel Escobar to the Angels.
• The White Sox got Brett Lawrie from the Athletics.
• The Astros picked up Ken Giles from the Phillies.
• Mark Reynolds inked a one-year deal with the Rockies. Way to keep up in the division, Colorado.
• Alex Skillin thinks the Red Sox should keep Hanley Ramirez.
• Joe Lemire says that MLB has no choice but to extend netting at stadiums.
• Here's the Al Yellon special for you: The greatest player, by WAR, to play with each uniform number. The higher numbers are more fun. What will be even more fun is when the Yankees start using fractions in a few years.
• Eno Sarris talked to several managers about how the job has changed over the years. I give Mike Scioscia credit for succinctness.
• Craig Calcaterra wonders what the heck we mean when we call someone "a baseball man." Aren't they all baseball men? Apparently not. And I'm not referring to the handful of women in the game, either.
• Kenny Lofton: movie producer.
• Finally, earlier I told you about Mookie Betts and his bowling career and how he was going to compete in the World Series of Bowling. Claire McNear has an update on how Betts is doing. Up and down, but he pulled off six straight strikes at one point.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.