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Winter Meetings

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Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees include league executives, team owners, general managers, team scouts, visitors from baseball-playing countries, trade show exhibitors, and people seeking employment with minor league organizations.[1][2][3] The Rule 5 draft, in which minor league players who are not on a team's 40-man roster can be drafted by a major league team, is held on the last day of the meetings.[4]

History

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The tradition of baseball holding off-season meetings during December dates back to 1876, the first offseason of the National League. At the 1876 meetings, William Hulbert was selected to be the league's president, and two teams (the New York Mutuals and Philadelphia Athletics) were expelled from the league for failing to play all their scheduled games; they had refused to make their final road trip of the season.[5] The Winter Meetings became an annual event in 1901. In 2024, the Winter Meetings will be held in Dallas, Texas.

Attendees

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The Winter Meetings attract several thousand participants; in 2014 organizers anticipated 3,000 attendees. These include team owners, field managers, team scouts, players' agents, lawyers and accountants specializing in baseball, and visitors from baseball-playing countries.[1][6][7] While it is rare for players who are under contract to attend, free agents often do come to take advantage of the opportunity to introduce themselves to many teams.[6] At the 2014 Winter Meetings in San Diego, an estimated 750 media personnel received press passes.[8]

Receptions are held nightly by each of the 30 major league teams for their minor league affiliates.[9] A luncheon is also held for major league managers and baseball reporters.[10]

Player trades and signings

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Barry Bonds playing for the San Francisco Giants in 1993

With all the principals in one place, the Winter Meetings are typically the site of player trades and free-agent signings.[11] However, the informal meetings that used to take place in hotel lobbies up until the end of the 20th century have been replaced by texting and emailing; most interactions take place in the privacy of suites due to the preponderance of media personnel and fans converging on the site.[8][10]

Among the notable trades and signings that have been made at the Winter Meetings are:

  • At the 1975 Winter Meetings in Fort Lauderdale, new Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck sat at a table in the lobby behind a sign that said "Open for Business". During the course of the meetings, Veeck negotiated six trades involving 22 players.[12]
  • At the 1988 Winter Meetings in Atlanta, the Texas Rangers closed three trades involving 15 players and signed free agent pitcher Nolan Ryan.[13]
  • At the 1992 Winter Meetings in Louisville, first-time free agent Barry Bonds was signed by the San Francisco Giants for six years and $43 million. Bonds personally negotiated to have a hotel suite at his disposal during road games.[10]
  • On the last day of the 2011 Winter Meetings in Dallas, Albert Pujols, who had won a World Series ring with the St. Louis Cardinals that fall, inked a 10-year, $250 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels.[14]
  • In the space of 24 hours at the 2014 Winter Meetings in San Diego, the Los Angeles Dodgers concluded six transactions with four teams, involving 19 players and a free agent.[15][16]
  • On consecutive days during the 2019 Winter Meetings in San Diego, Gerrit Cole signed a nine-year, $324 million deal with the New York Yankees, followed by Anthony Rendon agreeing to a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels the following evening.[17]

Other events

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Pants Rowland, winner of the first "King of Baseball" award in 1951.

Concurrent with the Winter Meetings, a trade show featuring close to 300 vendors of baseball equipment, services, and promotions takes place.[6] Another annual event is the Professional Baseball Employment Opportunities Job Fair, during which recent college graduates seeking internships and employment with minor league organizations schedule on-site interviews.[18] The month of December is considered "the height of baseball hiring season", as 400 to 500 workers are hired each year.[19]

From 1951 to 2019, the "King of Baseball" title was awarded to a minor league veteran at the Winter Meetings banquet.[20] With the 2020 minor-league season having been canceled due to COVID-19, the award was not presented in that year, and it was discontinued when MLB took over the minor leagues in 2021.

Several events associated with the Hall of Fame also take place at the Winter Meetings:

  • The voting bodies that superseded the Veterans Committee, which are now the only bodies that elect long-retired players and non-playing personnel to the Hall, meet and vote.[10]
  • The winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting is announced.[21]
  • The Baseball Writers' Association of America conducts its annual meeting[10] and announces the recipient of its BBWAA Career Excellence Award (historically the J. G. Taylor Spink Award) for excellence in baseball writing.[22] Both the Frick and Career Excellence Awards are presented as part of the Hall of Fame's annual induction festivities.
  • The Scout of the Year award is presented at a special banquet.[23][24]

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b Peden 2011, p. 195.
  2. ^ "2014 Baseball Winter Meetings returns to San Diego after three decades". Minor League Baseball. 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  3. ^ Horn, Jonathan (December 9, 2014). "Baseball Jobs: Will work for peanuts". U-T San Diego. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  4. ^ Links, Zach (December 11, 2014). "2014 Rule 5 Draft Results". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  5. ^ Apstein, Stephanie (December 6, 2019). "Winter Meetings Promise to Revive MLB's Ongoing Drama". si.com. ABG-SI, LLC. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Solomon & Freeman 2012, p. 185.
  7. ^ Gorman 2007, pp. 7–8.
  8. ^ a b Costa, Brian (December 9, 2014). "Baseball's Winter Meetings—Minus the Meetings". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  9. ^ Solomon & Freeman 2012, p. 182.
  10. ^ a b c d e Waldstein, David (December 7, 2014). "Baseball's Annual Winter Meetings Have It All, Except Quietude". The New York Times. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  11. ^ Carroll 2007, p. 78.
  12. ^ Cassavell, AJ (2016). "The biggest Winter Meetings trades of all time". MLB.com. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  13. ^ Sypher 1990, p. 100.
  14. ^ Stark, Jayson (December 9, 2011). "Angels Shock the Baseball World". ESPN. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  15. ^ Nightengale, Bob (December 12, 2014). "'Aggressive' winter meetings end with many winners". USA Today. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  16. ^ Plunkett, Bill (December 11, 2014). "Kemp trade is latest piece of Dodgers' reconstruction". Orange County Register. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  17. ^ "Sources: Anthony Rendon agrees to 7-year, $245M deal with Angels". ESPN.com. ESPN. December 12, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  18. ^ Barr, Chad; Curtis, Ted (May 12, 2012). "Class is in Session at the Baseball Winter Meetings". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  19. ^ Brown, Dwane (December 8, 2014). "Baseball Executives, Jobseekers In San Diego For Winter Meetings". KPBS.
  20. ^ "King of Baseball Award by Minor League Baseball". Baseball Almanac. 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  21. ^ "Ford C. Frick Award". National Baseball Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  22. ^ Geltner 2012, p. 203.
  23. ^ Elliott, Bob (December 10, 2015). "Blue Jays snag Giants pitcher in Rule V draft". Toronto Sun. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  24. ^ Sandoval & Nowlin 2011, p. 165.

Sources

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Further reading

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