Winter Meetings Takeaways: alonso, Schwarber, and a Busy Market

ORLANDO, Fla. — another Winter Meetings has come and gone, and while the first day of baseball’s premier offseason event was a quite one, the last two days provided some serious fireworks that will help shape the 2026 season.

Here are four takeaways from this week’s meetings in Orlando:

There wasn’t an abundance of signings during the Meetings, but the three biggest ones dominated the headlines of the baseball world.

Kyle Schwarber had been seen by many as the first necessary domino to fall, as suitors such as the Orioles, red sox, Mets, Reds and Pirates were waiting on word from Schwarber before pivoting elsewhere.

The orioles pivoted quickly,making their biggest free-agent move of the Mike Elias era with a five-year, $155 million agreement with Pete Alonso. That move sent shockwaves throughout the Meetings — not to mention throughout New York — as the second of the two biggest power bats on the free-agent market came off the board.

There are still several premium free agents out there to be signed, but seeing Schwarber, Díaz and Alonso all land big deals in the span of 24 hours was quite notable.