Biggest free-agent deals in Winter Meetings history

Above the constant hum of rumors pulsing through the Winter Meetings occasionally arises a loud statement in the form of a franchise-altering agreement with a free agent, a bold move commanding the attention of the baseball world.

When representatives from all 30 teams convene starting on Monday, a batch of sluggers — Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Mark Trumbo — along with stellar closers — Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen — give free agency plenty of room at the bargaining table this time around.

MLB.com and MLB Network will have wall-to-wall coverage of the 2016 Winter Meetings from the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center outside Washington. Fans can watch live streaming of all news conferences and manager availability on MLB.com, including the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday at 9 a.m. ET.

Obviously, groundwork will be laid outside D.C. for deals that come later, and many big past deals have been consummated on the doorstep of the meetings — last year’s megadeal for Zack Greinke with the D-backs, for instance. But free agency has delivered plenty of action at the annual convention over the years.

Here’s a look at times when free agency had the biggest impact on the Winter Meetings:

1980: Winfield narrows it down When Dave Winfield signed the first blockbuster deal ever for a free agent, agreeing to a record-shattering 10-year, $23 million contract with the Yankees, he signed on the dotted line the day after the Winter Meetings were held in Dallas.

For the Mets, those Winter Meetings were the last chance to trade for a player who could complement Winfield, reportedly targeting Fred Lynn of the Red Sox, among others. But the efforts of Mets GM Frank Cashen came up short, and despite extending a 10-year, $12 million offer, the Mets finished out of the running for Winfield, who had insisted on more lineup protection. Cashen was quoted as saying it would be nice to have both Lynn and Winfield, “But who would pay the ushers?”

Five years earlier, in the winter of 1975, Jim “Catfish” Hunter signed with the Yankees on New Year’s Eve to usher in the free-agency era. But the Winfield signing really set off the age of bigger and bigger contracts, and it had a brush with the Winter Meetings thanks to the Mets’ 11th-hour trade efforts.

1988: Ryan Express to Arlington At age 41, Nolan Ryan was already the game’s all-time strikeout king and had five no-hitters under his belt before signing a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Rangers at the Winter Meetings in Atlanta. Ryan would go on to pitch five more seasons and deliver two more no-hitters for the Rangers. He wound up with 5,714 …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com