In this baseball age of advanced scouting, statistics and analytics, rarely do you find an undervalued player or the “bargains” of the winter. With players analyzed so thoroughly, no asset or weakness slips past the watchful eyes of the front office.
Value is always recognized, now more than ever.
Yet it is still possible for a team to get plenty of bang for its buck or to not have to pay wildly for potential high value. Whether through free agency or via trade, there have been several moves this fall and winter where the acquiring team not only picked up the player but also a clear win for its 2015 agenda.
Some teams bought players relatively cheap, while others nabbed assets in trades that required them to part with relatively little. Whatever the case, each of these moves could go a long way in impacting division landscapes this coming season.
As spring training approaches in a few weeks, here are this offseason’s top 10 low-cost, high-reward moves, in no particular order.