Buying or selling Winter Meetings Rumors: Diaz betrayal, Pirates' Schwarber bid, more

After a rather disappointing first day of the Winter Meetings, moves came fast and furious on Tuesday morning. Not only did Kyle Schwarber, a player they were in on, re-sign with the Philadelphia Phillies, but mere minutes later, the Los Angeles Dodgers stole Edwin Diaz away from the New York Mets. Yes, the two-time defending World Series champions signed the best closer in the game.

Before, and especially since, those deals went down, rumors have been swirling out of Orlando. Some of these rumors are believable, while others, let's just say, are less so. Let's go over some of the juiciest items from Day 2 and determine just whether they're credible or not.

Rumor: Pirates made serious offer to Kyle Schwarber

Why not start with the spiciest rumor of all? Not long before news broke of Schwarber’s return to Philadelphia, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic ($) reported that the Pittsburgh Pirates had offered the slugger a four-year deal worth $120 million. Schwarber wound up signing a five-year, $150 million to remain with the Phillies. Sure, the Pirates wound up a year shy, but the AAV was the same. If true, this was an impressive offer for a Pirates team that's been allergic to spending money throughout Bob Nutting's tenure.

If you had told me this a month ago, I would've laughed in your face. Again, the Pirates have refused to spend for years, so I'd have to see it to believe it. But this information, coming from a reputable reporter after rumblings all offseason suggested that the Pirates were willing to spend, makes me think there really is some fire behind this smoke.

The Pirates probably knew this wouldn't be enough as they'd have to outbid teams like the Phillies, Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox just to get Schwarber interested. Given that, do I believe that the Pirates are actually prepared to spend this kind of money? Meh, I'm not fully convinced. But do I believe this offer was actually made, even if it was just for PR purposes? Yes.

Grade: A-

Rumor: Dodgers are in talks to acquire Tarik Skubal

It was reported on Monday by David Pingalore of KTLA that the Los Angeles Dodgers are in talks to acquire Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers. To take it a step further, Pingalore says that the Tigers "want to get rid of him", and that momentum to L.A. is real.

Is this a possibility? Absolutely. As Pingalore noted, the Dodgers have the assets and the money to get a deal done. If they were to acquire Skubal, they'd presumably have a good shot at keeping him around long-term, too. However, do I believe that the Tigers want to trade Skubal, and that something could get done sooner rather than later? Absolutely not.

It'd make some sense if the Tigers got an offer they simply couldn’t refuse, but nothing suggests they're in any hurry to trade the best pitcher in baseball, even with him being only a year away from free agency. I buy that the Dodgers would be in on him, but after just signing Diaz to a lucrative three-year deal and with already the best rotation in baseball, do I believe that they're going to outbid the field, especially this quickly? Not really.

Grade: C

Rumor: Edwin Diaz betrays the Mets for the Dodgers

The most shocking news on Tuesday was that Diaz was going to leave the New York Mets for the Dodgers. That news became even more shocking when it was revealed that Diaz had signed a three-year, $69 million deal to join the defending champions. That contract is nowhere near the roughly five years for $100+ million he was reportedly looking for.

Mets fans quickly proceeded to blame David Stearns and Steve Cohen for this outcome, but it turns out that Diaz's return might not have been in their control after all. MLB.com's Anthony DiComo reported that Diaz did not give the Mets a chance to send him a final offer before he signed with the Dodgers.

This is a heartbreaking reality for Mets fans, especially since New York’s offer was reportedly only $3 million apart (with deferrals). And unfortunately, it’s one that's entirely believable. Sure, Diaz has said how much he loved being a Met and being in New York, but is there a team more attractive than the Dodgers right now? Not only do they play in Southern California, where the weather is nice virtually year-round, but they've won back-to-back World Series titles. The Mets made the postseason twice in Diaz's six-year tenure with the club; the Dodgers won three World Series titles in that span.

The Mets had more room to offer him a bit more money, but it sounds like they weren't going to offer him a fourth year, and some of the deal was deferred, too. The Dodgers' offer was always going to be comparable at worst to New York's, so why shouldn't Diaz have picked them over the Mets?

Mike Puma of the New York Post added more context as to why Diaz might've been more eager than expected to leave the Mets for the Dodgers.

I'd want to join a team my brother praised and leave a team that fired the pitching coach who was in town virtually my entire tenure, too. Again, it's easy to blame the Mets for letting this happen, but it sure sounds like Diaz betrayed those same fans who loved him – not only by leaving, but by joining the team that knocked them out of the postseason a couple of years ago.

Grade: A

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