With the offseason now fully underway, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on today:
1. GM Meetings underway:
Amid all the chaos of yesterday’s deadlines, decision-makers around the baseball world arrived in San Antonio, Texas for the annual GM Meetings. Top executives from all 30 clubs gather at the meetings near the beginning of the offseason each year, serving as something of an unofficial beginning to hot stove season. While the GM Meetings are typically nowhere near as active as the Winter Meetings that occur in December given their early date on the offseason calendar, they serve as a first opportunity for agents and clubs to begin discussion of free agents and for front offices to gauge rival teams’ early interests on the trade market.
This will be newly-minted Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey’s first major event in his new role, while Chaim Bloom will be attending for the first time since being announced as the heir to John Mozeliak at the top of baseball operations in St. Louis. Executives around baseball figure to speak with the media throughout the meetings, and those comments could provide a peek at their organization’s plans for the winter.
2. Free agents open for business:
As of 4pm CT yesterday afternoon, free agency has now properly begun and players are free to sign with any club they choose. While it could still take some time for signings to actually begin in earnest as agents and executives open negotiations, the month of November nonetheless sees a handful of signings every year. For example, 16 free agents signed big league deals in November of last year, including six multi-year deals. Right-handers Aaron Nola, Sonny Gray, and Reynaldo Lopez were perhaps the most significant free agents to sign early last year as the pitching market developed more quickly that the market for hitters, although it’s impossible to say at this point if this year’s free agent class will follow a similar trend. While waiting for news from the hot stove, be sure to check out MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents list, our Free Agent Prediction Contest, and our comprehensive list of this winter’s free agents.
3. MLBTR chat:
With the players available in free agency now set in stone and able to sign with any club, it’s time for the first weekday chat of the offseason! Whether you have questions about our recently-published Top 50 Free Agents list and who your favorite team will be targeting this winter or a trade proposal in the back of your mind, MLBTR’s Steve Adams will be here to answer your questions during a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.
Also note that on Thursday morning this week, the MLBTR staff will be hosting a joint chat focused specifically on our Top 50 Free Agent list and predictions. Check back in Thursday’s Opener for further details. Additionally, this week’s episode of the MLBTR Podcast will feature Tim, Steve, Anthony and Darragh all discussing the work and thought that went into our Top 50 rankings and predictions. That extra-long episode will release tomorrow morning!
IT’S OFFICIALLY HOT STOVE SEASON, BOYS
LFG
Decent chance that all of Boras’ clients, Soto included, sign by mid-March!
Lord – I would hope Boras learned his lesson last offseason!
I don’t know. : -)
One thing to keep in mind, the deadline for accepting QO’s isn’t until 4 PM EST on November 19th.
So there could be 13 additional players hitting free agency.
no doubt, Pirates GM will be looking for him worst possible addition to this team during these meetings
I have no faith that he will make this team better next year because his purse strings are tied up in knots
Think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised with their offseason. I think Nutting is feeling fan backlash. While they probably won’t sign Adames, they can sign a Kim. While they won’t sign Alonso, they could snag a Goldschmidt or a Rizzo. Maybe even Walker. Add a Verdugo and or an O’Neil and they’re set. I have them being the most active in free agency (the usual big teams aside) and I’ll go on record saying they win the Central next year.
Cheese – I also think Nutting realizes there’s a 3-4 year window before he’s forced to trade Skenes, so I agree the spending will lkely go up the next few years.
It should make sense to spend in the short term while he’s must see TV without having to commit guaranteed money to him.
Really would love to see Pittsburgh rock. Probably my favorite sports city/stadium to visit.
Ben said that he wouldn’t be inclined to sign free agents to improve the team but would make trades for players with years of control.
So I expect more players like DLC to come to Pittsburgh
Man – I don’t see that happening 100%, Ben needs to sign some free agents because if he trades away most of his prospects then what happens in a few years? The Pirates are one of the teams that greatly depends on their farm system, they can’t allow it to become depleted.
That dude in the picture… Is that the weird robot techno dancing guy that keeps popping up on my reels??
The guy in the header? That’s Buster Posey.
Yankees are effed. So much money tied up in non-productive players.
Yankees better spend if they want to win. They’re 18th in payroll-to-revenue expenditures in MLB, so I don’t want to hear them crying poor.
They can spend but they can’t outspend other teams anymore. Or they aren’t willing. One or the other.
They have $169 mil committed to Judge, Stanton, Rodon, DJ, Cole and Stroman with another $14 mil going to Rizzo and Hicks (barf). That’s $183 mil for a shaky front 3 and 2 broken down position players. Going to be tough to round this out and stay competitive.
What do you think they are going to do?
I think they are putting all their eggs in the Soto basket. I believe everything else will be on the margins. Hal reportedly stated that he will NOT increase payroll from last year, which tells me all I need to know. When he prioritizes a specific amount over winning, especially when they were a few games away from being champions, they’re not serious about winning. They’re only serious about competing, which is a losing mindset.
Thet really should have hired the Superfife. I’d have taken them to Blacks’!