Major League Baseball's 2022 winter meetings blew through San Diego like a three-day whirlwind, sending Justin Verlander to the Mets, Trea Turner to the Phillies, Willson Contreras to the Cardinals, Kenley Jansen to the Red Sox and "Arson Judge" into the pantheon of baseball's greatest Twitter moments.

One of our biggest takeaways from the spending spree is that the offseason has only just begun.

There were several huge signings, but three of the four big shortstops, Brandon Nimmo, Carlos Rodón, Chris Bassitt and a bunch of other free agents likely headed for eight-figure salaries are still available. And aside from Tampa Bay sending Brooks Raley to the Mets on Wednesday, there was almost no wheeling and dealing as far as trades are concerned.

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The Yankees got Aaron Judge back -- now here's what they need to do to actually get better this winter

There will be plenty more actions and transactions to digest before pitchers and catchers report in February.

But here are the things we'll remember and our biggest observations from the winter meetings, presented in no particular order.

 

"Arson" Judge Heats Up the Hot Stove

NBA free agency is all about the "Woj Bombs" on Twitter, but MLB free agency delivered one heck of a "Heyman Haymaker" at 5:20 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

That's when Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network inadvertently tried to break the internet by tweeting "Arson Judge appears headed to Giants."

Heyman had reported a few hours earlier that San Francisco's offer to Aaron Judge was "believed to be in the $360 million neighborhood," and this appeared to be the culmination of those negotiations.

And while a finalized Judge-to-the-Giants agreement would have been a colossal deal in its own right, what really set Twitter ablaze was the typo.

Immediately, the photoshop experts went to work, putting images of Judge into various states of conflagration. Baseball Reference even got in on the fun:

But the real burn came 420 seconds later when Heyman apologized for "jumping the gun," saying there actually wasn't a deal in place. He first deleted the typo and then walked back the report altogether.

Giants fans had seven minutes in heaven before having it ripped away from them.

And then they had to wake up to the news on Wednesday morning that Judge is staying with the Yankees on the nine-year, $360 million terms which they thought would bring him to San Francisco.

But we will never, ever forget Arson Judge.

 

The Aaron Judge Domino Finally Falls

The Arson Judge moment was incredible, but the biggest news to come out of the winter meetings was Aaron Judge re-signing with the New York Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million contract.

One month ago, I had Judge projected for eight years and $320 million, so the average salary of $40 million per year—though the highest in MLB history for a position player—is no surprise. Nor is it a surprise that he's staying in New York, despite all those San Francisco rumblings.