Hot Stove Lunch: Kelly signs with Dodgers, relief market begins to pick up

LAS VEGAS -- It appears as though the relief market is starting to heat up.

Late last night here, word broke of Joe Kelly signing a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kelly will get $25 million over the span of the deal.

It's no secret that Kelly preferred to pitch closer to his Orange County home and preferred to pitch for a team which holds spring training in Arizona.

In five seasons with the Sox, Kelly compiled a 4.33 ERA, splitting his time between the rotation and bullpen. He had an up-and-down seasons in 2018 before starring in the postseason, appearing in nine games and posting an 0.79 ERA. He pitched in every one of the five World Series games and didn't allowed a run to the Dodgers, who were impressed enough with his performance to sign him.

It's likely the Sox saw the outlay as too rich for their tastes, as Dave Dombrowski said earlier this week that he didn't envision the team making any big expenditures for relievers, having re-signed Nathan Eovaldi last week to a $68 million deal which pushed their projected payroll for 2019 to nearly $230 million.

Kelly's deal came on the heels of a three-year agreement between the New York Mets and reliever Jeurys Familia, a signal that the stagnant reliever market may be ready to change.

A year ago, relievers grabbed a lot of the early deals, but until late Wednesday night, movement had been exceedingly slow for bullpen options.

It will be interesting to see which other relievers now come off the board and what that leaves for the Red Sox, who are looking for as many as two pitchers to re-stock their bullpen.

Elsewhere...

AL EAST

Try as they might, the Yankees haven't been able to find a deal for Sonny Gray 

The Orioles hope to fix Chris Davis.

The Blue Jays are trying to figure out what to do with Ken Giles.

A closer look at newest Rays starter Charlie Morton.

AL CENTRAL 

The Indians' bullpen needs improvement.

Byron Buxton doesn't know where he stands with the Twins.

The Tigers found a short-term solution at shortstop.

A look at the White Sox' pursuit of Bryce Harper.

How the Royals may look in 2019.

AL WEST

The Astros want to improve their offense.

Lance Lynn signed with the Rangers.

The Angels got some help at first base.

The Mariners are looking for some established players to give their prospects more time.

As the meetings wind down, an update on what the A's are doing.

NATIONAL LEAGUE 

The N.L. East may be the most competitive division in the game. Here's how it's shaking out so far.

HOT TAKE THAT I MAY SOON REGRET

The Winter Meetings 2018 wind down today, and once again, there was far more talk than action.

Sure, there were a couple of a small trades and a handful of free agent signings. But as has been the case in recent years, the actual news yield of significant transactions was minimal.

Baseball used to use these meetings as a means to whip up excitement for the next season and spur ticket sales going into the holiday season. But now, they're become bloated, with little actually taking place.

Something needs to be done to pick up the pace and not have free agents hanging around into January and February.

I'll have more on this topic in our MLB Notebook over the weekend.