Prospect Pipeline

International free agents are receiving serious interest in the aftermath of Major League Baseball’s winter meetings, with teams looking for relatively cheap and creative options to plug holes on their rosters.

A case can be made that the New York Mets possess the best collection of young pitching in the major leagues, with a projected 2015 starting rotation that includes right-handers Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and National League Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom.

Plus, it shouldn’t be long until they’re joined by a host of other young arms, too, as prospects Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz both are close to being ready for The Show.

Major League Baseball's winter meetings may be over, but the shock from what transpired on Thursday may linger.

The final days of the event featured a flurry of deals involving All-Star players, as Matt Kemp, Yoenis Cespedes, Mat Latos, Howie Kendrick, Jimmy Rollins, Dee Gordon and Alfredo Simon were all included in separate trades.

Many teams considering whether to deal high-profile players this past week were ultimately swayed by offers featuring young players and prospects in return, with some clubs netting as many as three or four in some deals.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are keeping the gang together.

After days of wheeling and dealing at Major League Baseball’s annual winter meetings, general managers and scouting directors will cap the week with the Rule 5 draft on Thursday, Dec. 11.

Following the World Series, every team faced a late-November deadline to set their respective 40-man rosters so as to identify the prospects left unprotected for the December draft.

Major League Baseball’s annual winter meetings are nearly upon us, with the events to be held on Dec. 8-11 in San Diego, California.

With front-office personnel and executives present from all 30 teams, the winter meetings typically produce both high-profile free-agent signings and blockbuster trades. And with every team evaluating their rosters for the 2015 season, prospects are often the deciding factor when it comes to an offseason deal.

At some point, the New York Yankees were going to have to sign or trade for a shortstop to replace Derek Jeter.

Although they usually don’t feature the same combination of big-ticket prospects and all-around depth as the Arizona Fall League, the various international winter leagues at least offer those of us going through offseason prospect withdrawal a temporary fix.

With the overwhelming failure rate of prospects, teams can only be so patient or forgiving with their young players. However, they tend to be more lenient when that player is a former top draft pick or international signee given the amount of money originally invested as well as the pride at stake.

Giancarlo Stanton and the Miami Marlins made sports history earlier this month when the two sides agreed to an unprecedented 13-year, $325 million contract extension through 2027.