Winter meetings, Day 3

Another yawner Wednesday for the Twins in terms of player moves. The Rule 5 draft is today -- that pretty much concludes the winter meetings -- so there will be some roster action today, however minor it turns out to be.

 J.J. "#Rule5Fever" Cooper of Baseball America offers this quick look at the top possibilities (the Twins, of course, go first). (Addendum: The Twins are believed to have a trade in place with the Padres, who pick third; they'll exchange Rule 5 picks with some cash.)

Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox continue to be aggressive about accumulating prospects. The Adam Eaton deal with the Nationals was just as impressive, really, as the Chris Sale trade the day before, because Eaton is not the name player that Sale is.

My reaction to Eaton trade: "What? That's insane." But his 15.3 WAR last 3 years tops ALL Nats regulars & 18th in MLB. WAR better be right.

— Thomas Boswell (@ThomasBoswellWP) December 8, 2016

WAR really likes Eaton -- but WAR really likes Eaton as a right fielder, and presumably the Nationals plan to play Eaton in center, where his defense is a bit stretched. (Boswell appears to be citing the Baseball Reference version of WAR.)

The obvious plus to Eaton: He's a solid leadoff man with very consistent on-base percentages. If he's capable of handling center field, he gives the Nats a pretty solid lineup 1-8. The less obvious plus: He's controlled for five years. But that was a lot of young pitching talent to surrender for somebody who might not be a defensive fit.