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Our MLB editor files dispatches from the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.

This city was built on the potential of winning big, and the reality of losing in the same manner, so its fitting to take a look at who won and lost this week at the Bellagio Hotel.

Winners

New York Baseball Fans: Let's see, the Yankees added the best pitcher on the market, and just maybe the best pitcher on the planet, in CC Sabathia and they aren't done yet. A.J. Burnett could be added to the rotation by the end of the week and they'll add another hurler before the end of the winter. Suddenly it looks like they're right there with the Rays and the Red Sox.

Omar Minaya was, by far, the most visible GM in Las Vegas, and that's because he made major upgrades to the Mets' wretched bullpen, signing Francisco Rodriguez and trading for J.J. Putz and Sean Green. The Mets biggest weakness coming into Las Vegas now appears to be a strength.

Our MLB editor files dispatches from the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.

I've seen quite a bit of Mets general manager Omar Minaya here at the Bellagio, so I'd like to think he's reading my posts. Even if he isn't, he did respond to my suggestion that New York needs more bullpen help, by pulling off a three-way deal for closer J.J. Putz.

Minaya, along with Indians GM Mark Shapiro and Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik, made the trade official moments ago and he had a simple message for the folks in New York who keep bothering him when he goes out to get his morning bagels.

"To you Mets fans, we've addressed the bullpen by getting Mr. Putz," he said.

Indeed he has, and he's addressed a few other areas of need with this deal, further adding to the bullpen depth by acquiring Sean Green, a guy who is very tough on right-handed hitters, and filling the hole left by Endy Chavez with Jeremy Reed, who is a capable fourth outfielder.

But this deal is mostly about Putz, who, if healthy, could be an even more devastating weapon than the recently signed Francisco Rodriguez.

"To win championships, you have to have a good bullpen," said Minaya. "We had Putz and K-Rod as one and two on our list [coming into the offseason]. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine we'd have our No. 1 and No. 2 closer."

Update: This trade is now official.

So you thought the Mets were out of the running for a J.J. Putz trade after signing Francisco Rodriguez. I can't say I blame you ... I thought the same thing. But apparently there are discussions of a three-team, twelve player deal were first reported by Ken Rosenthal and updated by Castro Turf:

Under terms of the deal, the Mets would get Putz, outfielder Jeremy Reed and reliever Sean Green from Seattle. The Mariners would receive reliever Aaron Heilman, outfielder Endy Chavez and first baseman Mike Carp from the Mets. They'd also get Franklin Gutierrez from the Indians and minor leaguers. The Indians would get reliever Joe Smith from the Mets and infielder Luis Valbuena from Seattle.

Double whoa on this one. It's a lot to give up for the Mets to get a guy that struggled through injury last season (and by a lot I mean Smith ... since Chavez has been invisible for the Mets lately and Aaron Heilman is ... well, Aaron Heilman), but if Putz returns to his injury free form of '07, and if he becomes cool with pitching the eighth instead of the ninth (Rosenthal's recent update is that Putz's current answer to that question was "no"), this is a huge get for them to further improve the bullpen after the acquisition of K-Rod.