Winter Meetings 2014: Rumors and moves from Day 3 from San Diego

Astros happenings

Big news! Actual news! Our first huge story day since Framin' Hank Conger joined our lives. The Astros added two free agent relievers in Luke Gregerson and Pat Neshek.

Here's a really nice story from the Houston Chronicle's Evan Drellich on the behind-the-scenes negotiations that brought Neshek to Houston.

We'll have more on the pair later this morning, but for now, here's a sampling of the reaction on Twitter from the Gregerson deal, why the Astros (probably) won't trade Gregerson this summer and a look at the bullpen post-signings.

We also got a rumor that Jed Lowrie talks had heated up on Wednesday, with the free agent infielder looking for a three-year deal. FanGraphs crowd-sourcing put his value at 3/$30 million, which could stretch the Astros budget a bit.

The Dodgers Way

L.A. has one of the highest-profile front offices in baseball now, bringing over Andrew Friedman from the Rays and Farhan Zaidi from the A's. Now, they went on an insane killing spree across the baseball trade landscape, improving an already impressive team.

With four moves, the Dodgers solidified any holes that free agency had left for them, spend money wisely and fleeced a couple of teams. Oh, and they did it without giving up any meaningful, controllable young players. It was awesome.

To recap:

The Dodgers traded for Jimmy Rollins. The return hasn't been forthcoming, but the price is thought to be two young pitchers (not names Urias). The Phillies are kicking in money and there could be a third team involved, with some of the players acquired from the Marlins sent to Philadelphia.

Oh, right, the Dodgers also made a trade with Miami. L.A. sent Dee Gordon and Dan Haren to the Marlins for former Astro Kike Hernandez, former Oklahoma State pitcher Andrew Heaney, right-hander Chris Hatcher and catching prospect Austin Barnes. Haren, who said he'd retire if he didn't play in Los Angeles for either the Dodgers or the Angels, will probably retire. But, the Dodgers are sending $10 million (the balance of Haren's contract) to Miami in the deal, no matter if he retires or not.

Not to be outdone, the Dodgers turned around and flipped Heaney to the Angels for second baseman Howie Kendrick. The straight-up deal replaced Dee Gordon's production on the roster with a slightly older player, who's also a better offensive and defensive weapon.

Finally, the Dodgers replaced Haren in the rotation by signing free agent starter Brandon McCarthy for, as some astute tweeter pointed out, the same amount of years Hanley Ramirez received.

I'm pretty sure the Dodgers are done, but don't count them out. They could pull off trades for Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Carlos Correa by lunch.

Other Wednesday moves

In other, boring talk, some things got done that didn't involve the Dodgers.

Well, sort of got done.

We know the Pirates acquired Antonio Bastardo from the Phillies. The Pirates got the lefty for minor league pitcher Joely Rodriguez. After locking up A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano, the Pirates worked a fallback option after losing out on Pat Neshek.

Meanwhile, the Twins seem to be close to signing free agent starter Ervin Santana. What's notable here is that Twins GM Terry Ryan won't even acknowledge the team is interested in Santana. Playing hard to get always works out so well.

To replace the departed Kendrick, the Angels acquired second baseman Josh Rutledge from the Rockies for reliever Jairo Diaz. You may never read those two names on this site ever again. Still, it happened. It must be mentioned.

The other quasi-move of Wednesday came in a weird trade between the Diamondbacks and the Red Sox. This trade had more on-again, off-again stops than Ross and Rachel's courtship. It appeared the deal was agreed upon, sending Wade Miley to Boston for Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster and a minor leaguer. But, then Dave Stewart, the D'Backs GM, said nothing had been agreed upon, kiboshing the whole thing. As of late Wednesday night, the trade was still "off," because Ross made a stupid list of pro's and con's for each of the women he was interested in.

Rule 5 Talk

The big event of the day Thursday for Astros fans may be the Rule 5 draft. One report on Wednesday suggested the Diamondbacks could be targeting Astros catcher Roberto Pena with the first overall pick. Then, the industry talk shifted to another catcher.

Hearing strong buzz that Rays C Oscar Hernandez will go first in tomorrow's Rule 5 draft to the Diamondbacks. Can't fully confirm yet.

— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) December 11, 2014

Texas is said to have received plenty of interest in the No. 3 pick in the draft while the Astros will likely sit out the lottery due to roster issues.