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Winter Meetings: Day Four

Matthew Pouliot ranks this winter's top 111 free agents in the Strike Zone

On Monday, Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com wrote that the Tigers and Red Sox discussed a Yoenis Cespedes-for-Rick Porcello deal, but “there wasn’t a match.” Well, they eventually found one.

The two sides on Thursday agreed to swap the players, with the Tigers also receiving Alex Wilson and pitching prospect Gabe Speier.

Cespedes will take over as the Tigers’ left fielder and will provide more sock to Detroit’s already-imposing lineup. He looks like a good bet to slide into the No. 5 spot behind Victor Martinez, so there should be plenty of RBI chances with Martinez, Miguel Cabrera and Ian Kinsler hitting in front of him. Cespedes batted .260/.301/.450 with 22 home runs and 100 RBI in 152 games this past season for the A’s and Red Sox and will become a free agent after the season.

The Red Sox receive a much-needed boost to their rotation with the acquisition of Porcello. The right-hander had a career-low 3.43 ERA in 2014 while also notching his first 200-inning season and recording an American League-leading three shutouts. Like Cespedes, Porcello is also a free agent after the season, and since he’s a Scott Boras client the chances of the Red Sox extending him before next winter are probably close to nil. Nevertheless, he’ll be a big piece as Boston remakes their rotation after losing out on the Jon Lester sweepstakes.

In addition to Porcello and Wade Miley, the Red Sox have also brought aboard old friend Justin Masterson, who signed a one-year, $9.5 million pact as he looks to re-establish his value following a poor 2014 campaign. Masterson held an ugly 5.88 ERA and 116/69 K/BB ratio in 128 2/3 innings this past season between the Indians and Cardinals, but he pitched hurt and Boston is hoping he can return to his 2013 All-Star form (3.45 ERA, 195 strikeouts over 193 innings).

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Kemp Headed to Padres

After days of speculation, the Dodgers finally traded Matt Kemp to the Padres. In return they received Yasmani Grandal, Joe Wieland and pitching prospect Zach Eflin, with Tim Federowicz and $32 million also going to the Padres.

The Dodgers almost surely preferred to deal Andre Ethier and/or Carl Crawford than Kemp among their glut of outfielders (and they still might trade one of those two), but ultimately they decided they liked the package they could get for Kemp the best. Grandal started slow last season after coming back from ACL surgery, but he finished strong with a .291/.408/.519 September that included four home runs. The 26-year-old’s production to this point has been inconsistent, but he has plenty of upside and is no doubt a big upgrade offensively over A.J. Ellis.

Wieland returned from Tommy John surgery for a few token innings with the Padres last season. He’s thrown a total of just 85 1/3 frames since the beginning of 2012 due to injury, but Wieland will turn just 25 next month and boasts a 3.27 ERA with 444 strikeouts over 476 2/3 innings in the minors. He figures to compete for the fifth spot in the Dodgers’ rotation. Eflin, 20, isn’t close to major league-ready but had been one of the Padres’ better pitching prospects. He could be flipped to the Phillies as part of the Jimmy Rollins deal.

As far as Kemp goes, there’s no doubt his fantasy value drops with a move to San Diego. Having Petco Park as his new home won’t help but isn’t the major factor in the downturn of his value, as he was already playing in a pitcher’s haven in Los Angeles. What really hurts Kemp is going from a terrific Dodgers offense to, at least what looks to be on paper at the moment, a pretty awful Padres offense. He’ll go from having Yasiel Puig, Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez around him in 2014 to Seth Smith, Yonder Alonso and Jedd Gyorko around him in 2015.

Reds Part with Latos, Simon

It’s been well-documented that the Reds planned to trade at least one of their four starters that were slated to hit free agency after next season. On Thursday they did just that, shipping a pair of hurlers out of town.

The Marlins obtained Mat Latos from the Reds in exchange for Anthony DeSclafani and catching prospect Chad Wallach. Latos had an injury-shortened 2014 season, as he was limited to just 102 1/3 innings while battling knee and elbow issues. He also saw his velocity dip when he was on the mound, which helped lead to just a 6.5 K/9 rate, but the right-hander still managed to post a 3.25 ERA. Latos underwent a stem cell procedure on his elbow after the season but is expected to be ready to roll for spring training. If healthy, he should be a nice weapon for the Marlins and will certainly benefit from going to Great American Ball Park to Marlins Park.

DeSclafani could slide into the rotation spot vacated by Latos in Cincinnati. The 24-year-old posted a 6.27 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in 33 innings for the Marlins last season, but he boasts a 3.23 ERA in the minors while striking out 304 across 354 1/3 frames.

Also traded was Alfredo Simon, who went to the Tigers for infielder Eugenio Suarez and pitching prospect Jonathon Crawford. Simon was a surprise success in the Reds’ rotation last season, putting up a 3.44 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 196 1/3 innings while making the All-Star team. He should help offset the loss of Porcello somewhat, but Simon is a good bet to regress in the American League after out-performing his peripherals in 2014.

Suarez could operate in a utility role for the Reds initially but is a good bet to unseat Zack Cozart at shortstop at some point. The 23-year-old is a good defender and sported a pretty nice .278/.362/.415 batting line in the minors. A first-round pick in the 2013 Draft, Crawford holds a 2.73 ERA over his first 142 pro innings, though he’s struck out only 106. Some think he could wind up as a reliever, but he’s certainly an interesting upside get for the Reds.

Twins Reach Deal with Santana

The Twins had the worst team ERA (4.57) in the American League last season, so getting at least one pitcher this winter to help out their rotation was a necessity. It appears that help will come in the form of Ervin Santana, who has reportedly agreed to a four-year, $54 million contract.

Santana was a qualifying offer victim last winter, eventually having to settle for a one-year, $14.1 million deal from the Braves. He received another qualifying offer this offseason after putting up a 3.95 ERA with 179 strikeouts over 196 frames for Atlanta, but the Twins’ first-round pick is protected and they didn’t balk at surrendering a later one. Santana has been inconsistent at times and is prone to giving up the longball, but he’s made 30 starts in five straight seasons and had a sub-4.00 ERA in four out of those five campaigns. He should remain a solid workhorse in Minnesota.

Morales Lands Multi-Year Pact from Kansas City

The Royals had a hole to fill in their designated hitter spot after Billy Butler inked a three-year, $30 million deal with the A’s. As it turns out, they wound up with the guy who was looking for “Billy Butler money.”

Kendrys Morales didn’t get close to what Butler got from Oakland, but he was still able to land a multi-year deal after a terrible season, agreeing to a two-year, $17 contract with the Royals that includes a mutual option for 2017. Like Santana, the veteran DH was the victim of a qualifying offer last winter. Unlike Santana, he waited until June to sign and it’s possible the long layoff led to prolonged rustiness, as Morales wound up batting just .218/.274/.338 with eight homers and 42 RBI in 98 games between the Mariners and Twins. He’s just 31, so it’s hard to imagine Morales is already in his decline phase. He batted .286/.339/.494 from 2009-13 while averaging 26 homers during his three full seasons over that stretch.

Winter Meetings Quick Hits: The Cardinals have agreed to terms with Mark Reynolds on a one-year contract ... The Mets have agreed to a one-year deal with John Mayberry ... The Mariners are not expected to be willing to make Melky Cabrera more than a three-year offer ... The Rangers acquired Ross Detwiler from the Nationals in exchange for infield prospect Chris Bostick and pitching prospect Abel de los Santos ... The Mariners are having trade talks with the White Sox for Dayan Viciedo ... The Nationals and Rangers have discussed a trade involving Ian Desmond ... The Padres were unable to reach an agreement with Korean left-hander Kwang-Hyun Kim by Thursday’s deadline ... The Marlins have had trade talks with the Pirates for Pedro Alvarez and with the Rockies for Justin Morneau ... Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said Thursday that he is not in "active pursuit" of Max Scherzer ... The White Sox acquired Dan Jennings from the Marlins in exchange for Andre Rienzo ... The Rangers are having discussions with Sergio Santos ... The Pirates have engaged Neil Walker in contract extension talks ... Delino DeShields Jr. was picked by the Rangers as one of 14 selected in the major league portion of Thursday’s Rule 5 Draft ...