The Daily Chop: Winter Meetings set to begin in San Diego

Front office executives from around the league will arrive in San Diego on Sunday for the start of the Winter Meetings. The Braves did quite a bit of work early on adding Will Smith to the bullpen and veteran Cole Hamels to the rotation. The team still has several needs, most notably, finding a power bat to plug into the middle of the their lineup.

Bringing back Josh Donaldson would check all of the boxes but several teams are also interested. If he elects to go elsewhere, then Alex Anthopoulos will be forced to pivot in a different direction.

• A closer look at what Atlanta’s 40-man roster looks like heading into the Winter Meetings.
• Winter Meetings shopping list for the Braves which is of course topped by Donaldson.
• MLB.com lists every team’s wish list for the Winter Meetings.
• Biggest free agent deals in Winter Meetings history.
• Biggest Winter Meetings trades of all time.

Hot Stove news

The Kansas City Royals signed veteran reliever Trevor Rosenthal to a minor league deal with a spring training invite. The deal will pay Rosenthal $2 million if he earns a spot on the 25-man roster and he would be able to earn an $2.25 million in performances.

Right-hander Jordan Lyles is headed to the Rangers after agreeing to a two-year deal worth a reported $16 million. The White Sox, Blue Jays, Brewers and Twins were among the teams chasing Lyles.

The New York Mets are reportedly interested in free agent starter Rick Porcello according to the MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

The St. Louis Cardinals are reportedly keeping an eye on the free agent starter market and have had “conversations” regarding Madison Bumgarner and Dallas Keuchel.

Reliever Sergio Romo could sign at next week’s Winter Meetings and reportedly has a trio of teams bidding for his services.

More MLB News

The Pittsburgh Pirates have hired Don Kelly to serve as bench coach on new manager Derek Shelton’s coaching staff. Kelly spent the 2019 season as the Astros’ first base coach.