OPINION

By Stan McNeal

updated 10:36 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2008

LAS VEGAS - With spring training 64 days away, do you know where your team is heading? After the four-day winter meetings, most teams outside of New York would have to answer, "Not quite." Most clubs left Las Vegas with little more than claims that they have made progress toward achieving their offseason goals. Too bad for them.

Based on actual moves, far more clubs left Vegas looking more like losers than winners. That had nothing to do with how they fared at the craps table, either.

The biggest losers

San Diego Padres. General manager Kevin Towers emerged from Thursday's Rule 5 draft looking a bit like someone whose computer crashed one page before he was able to complete a month-long project.

Under a directive to slash payroll, Towers spent weeks trying to pawn off his $59 million ace, right-hander Jake Peavy, whose contract also includes a $22 million team option for 2013. For the first three days of the meetings, Towers believed he would have a taker in the Chicago Cubs. But on the fourth day, the Cubs turned him down.

After weeks of working on the deal, which involved three or four teams at times, Towers was back to square one. He planned to spend the weekend in Vegas before gearing up again in San Diego, with the plan of keeping the talks under the radar this time.

Peavy complicated Towers' task because he has full no-trade protection and has given the Padres a very short list of clubs for which he'd be willing to pitch. Unless Peavy decides to expand his list — and he might soon — the Padres might be forced to devote as much as one-fourth of their 2009 payroll to his $11 million salary.

Milwaukee Brewers. Losing CC Sabathia was disappointing but not surprising. The Brewers believed their offer of $100 million over five years was generous, even though it came up short by $61 million and two years.

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The Brewers entered the offseason also prepared to lose their other ace, Ben Sheets, who could end up with the Yankees, too. But the Brewers knew it wasn't their week when, according to FoxSports.com, the Yankees would not complete a trade for outfielder Mike Cameron unless the Brewers paid a portion of his $10 million salary.

Los Angeles Angels. Considering they didn't make an offer to Francisco Rodriguez in the past season, retaining their record-breaking closer wasn't their top priority.

Based on everything the club has said this offseason, it really wants to re-sign slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira. But the deep-pocketed Boston Red Sox, yet to spend a dime on a free agent, want him, too. So do the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, both of whom have the geographical advantage of being located on Teixeira's home turf.

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With so many pursuers, uber-agent Scott Boras is in prime position to drive up Teixeira's price to upwards of 10 years and $200 million. The Angels left the meetings knowing they would have to overpay to keep Teixeira and salvage their offseason.

Second-tier outfielders. Why are such quality players as Adam Dunn, Bobby Abreu, Milton Bradley and Garret Anderson still looking for teams?

"That typically is a supply and demand thing," St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. Translation: Only a few of the big-paying teams — namely the Cubs, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Yankees — are in need of a big-salary outfielder.

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"These guys could end up getting squeezed because teams may run out of money," an NL scout said.

All clubs trying to remain financially responsible. Florida Marlins president David Samson went on South Florida radio railing against the Yankees for throwing around so much money in times of such economic hardship. He's right, of course. But that isn't going to stop the top free agents from cashing in as they always do.

Winners

New York. While the nation deals with a sobering economic reality, baseball fans in the nation's biggest market can sit back and watch 11 players who will make Monopoly money in 2009. Eight Yankees and four Mets will draw salaries of at least $10 million. From new Yankees ace Sabathia to new Mets closer Rodriguez, at least they're all top-of-the-line players.

Scott Boras. Except for last season when Alex Rodriguez dumped Boras and left him without his No. 1 client, rarely does a winter go by when Boras Inc. isn't one of the winter's biggest winners.

Driving the chase for Teixeira into the stratosphere will not be Boras' only big payday this offseason. Boras also expects to find high-paying jobs for outfielder Manny Ramirez, righthander Derek Lowe and catcher Jason Varitek (who could end up with a two-year deal in the $20 million range after hitting .220 last season), among others.

Maybe the Brewers should ask him to help the Yankees pay Cameron.

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