ORLANDO, Fla. -- Another Winter Meetings has come and gone, and while the first day of baseball’s premier offseason event was a quiet one, the last two days provided some serious fireworks that will help shape the 2026 season.
Here are four takeaways from this week’s meetings in Orlando:
Quality over quantity
There wasn’t an abundance of signings during the Meetings, but the three biggest ones dominated the headlines of the baseball world.
After Michael Soroka and Steven Matz represented the biggest deals on Monday, the Signia by Hilton was buzzing late Tuesday morning when Kyle Schwarber agreed to a five-year, $150 million deal to return to the Phillies. Less than an hour later, news broke that Edwin Díaz had agreed to a three-year, $69 million deal with the Dodgers, leaving the Mets for two-time defending World Series champions.
Schwarber had been seen by many as the first necessary domino to fall, as suitors such as the Orioles, Red Sox, Mets, Reds and Pirates were waiting on word from Schwarber before pivoting elsewhere.
The Orioles pivoted quickly, making their biggest free-agent move of the Mike Elias era with a five-year, $155 million agreement with Pete Alonso. That move sent shockwaves throughout the Meetings -- not to mention throughout New York -- as the second of the two biggest power bats on the free-agent market came off the board.
There are still several premium free agents out there to be signed, but seeing Schwarber, Díaz and Alonso all land big deals in the span of 24 hours was quite notable.
Baltimore in business
The Alonso signing marks the second-biggest guaranteed free-agent deal ever handed out by the Orioles, trailing Chris Davis’ seven-year, $161 million contract from a decade ago. Under the leadership of Elias, only one player had signed a multi-year free-agent deal prior to this winter: Tyler O'Neill, who inked a three-year, $49.5 million deal last winter.
After signing closer Ryan Helsley to a two-year, $28 million deal earlier in the offseason, that total now stands at three.
Alonso’s deal sets a new record for average annual value for a first baseman and is the highest AAV in Orioles history, adding the slugger’s bat (along with the recently acquired Taylor Ward) to a young lineup that includes Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser, Samuel Basallo and Jordan Westburg.
With the Blue Jays emerging last season as a serious threat in the ultra-competitive AL East -- and arguably the division’s best team -- the Orioles are doing their best to bounce back from a disappointing 75-win season.
And they’re probably not done.
Baltimore is still searching for a frontline starting pitcher, which could come from the free-agent market or via trade. The Alonso signing shows the Orioles are ready to get back into the race with the Blue Jays, Yankees, Red Sox and Rays, setting up what should be the most fascinating division in the game in 2026.
The trade market is simmering
We saw some notable trades take place in the weeks leading up to the Meetings, including the Brandon Nimmo-Marcus Semien swap, the Taylor Ward-Grayson Rodriguez deal, and Sonny Gray being dealt to the Red Sox.
This week didn’t bring any blockbuster deals, but based on the names that continue to be floated around the trade market, those could be coming soon.
The Nationals seem intent on trading MacKenzie Gore (and possibly CJ Abrams), while the D-backs appear more likely to move Ketel Marte with every passing day. The Marlins are hesitant to deal Sandy Alcantara, but there has been tremendous interest in Edward Cabrera, who seems likely to move this winter.
The Brewers have two pitchers coveted by a number of clubs: starter Freddy Peralta and reliever Trevor Megill. It feels improbable that Milwaukee will trade both pitchers, but sources say the Brewers are likely to move at least one of them, with Megill the leading candidate.
The Cardinals continue to talk to teams about Brendan Donovan -- one of the most popular trade targets in the Majors -- along with Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras.
Then there’s the 6-foot-3 elephant in the room: Tarik Skubal. The two-time AL Cy Young winner continued to be the focus of trade rumors this week, though sources believe it will take an over-the-top offer to even get the Tigers to consider moving their ace.
Cease and desist
When Dylan Cease agreed to his seven-year, $210 million with the Blue Jays last month, many believed it would spark the starting pitching market, which features the likes of Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez, Michael King, Tatsuya Imai and Zac Gallen among others.
Instead, Cease’s huge deal may have stunted the market, at least for now.
“Cease got more than most expected he would, so now every agent thinks their starting pitcher is going to get something similar or close to it,” one NL executive said. “The rest of the teams aren’t quite ready to go there, even the ones that really need pitching.”
At some point, the starters’ market will heat up and all the aforementioned names will find solid deals, but the rumor mill in Orlando this week was mostly absent of any talk about starting pitchers.