MLB Winter Meetings Upon Us

Originally Posted on 11/30/07

It's that time of the year again for Major League Baseball's annual Winter Meetings. These meetings, which will be hosted in Nashville Tennessee this year, impact every Professional Baseball organization from the Minor Leagues on up... For the Minor League teams, its a time to share best practices among sales and marketing departments while new fresh faces attend looking for jobs and an opportunity to get into the sport. Job seekers and current MiLB employees will spend countless hours interviewing and attending the MiLB trade show. But for the big league clubs, this is a time to set the stage and make some moves for the talent on the field. This is a time for Baseball Operations and the Front Office staff to shine.

Every MLB General Manager and their respective staffs as well as most prominent Baseball agents and media counterparts will be in attendance discussing opportunities that can shape a teams make-up and direction for years to come. This year will be no different and if it all goes as expected then we'll be in for an exciting week of baseball rumors and eventual trades and free agent signings. For big Baseball fans like myself, this week stands for hope... hope that my team will make the right moves to improve and compete.

Every team has an agenda, and everyone talks while feeling out their competition. For any baseball fan, this is truly a special event. I was able to attend the meetings in 2004 as a member of the Stockton Ports staff and enjoyed every minute of it. Sure the MiLB best practice sessions were enlightening but standing next to some of the biggest decision makers in professional Baseball and hearing first hand what rumors are swirling around was definitely an event I won't soon forget. I know I'll be checking ESPN.com and other sites throughout the weekend and upcoming week for the next big move. Will Johan Santana or Miguel Cabrera be traded? Where will Aaron Rowand or other free agents sign? Can we expect any other blockbuster moves? We have plenty of questions heading into the meetings but one thing for sure is Baseball will be on center stage for the true fans of the game.