Waiver draft complete; Athletes bulk up as spring training nears

Fernando Rodriguez, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Alex Lange, Yonder Alonso and Leonys Martin were selected with the first five picks in the 2016 Waiver Draft.
Boston used the first pick to add Rodriguez to its bullpen. In need of a catcher, Louisville nabbed veteran backstop Saltalamacchia with the second selection.
After announcing Lang as the third choice, Tijuana dealt the college righty to Cleveland for a future draft pick. Toronto then opted for Alonso fourth and Twin City landed Martin at No. 5.
In all, 29 players were selected, five of whom had been released earlier in the draft (Chad Qualls, Adam Brett Walker, Rich Hill, Ryan Webb and Jose Alvarez). Complete results can be found here.
With the offseason drafts complete, spring training is right around the corner and Oakland isn’t wasting time trying to make itself the favorite following its 116-win season in 2015.
The Athletes made a couple of notable trades, adding Justin Turner just before the waiver draft and landing Hunter Pence in a six-player deal a few hours later.
Oakland sent Ken Giles and Ruben Tejada to Calgary to land Turner and J.P. Howell. Then Kevin Kiermaier, Joe Kelly and a future third-round pick were moved to Dublin in exchange for Pence, Luis Ortiz and Joe Musgrove.