It isn’t the Winter Meetings, with its typical run on activity and flurry of feverish rumors, but the GM Meetings – which begin today – are always kind of a mini version.
We’re going to hear new rumors this week, as team executives get together in Scottsdale, Arizona to discuss their rosters and trade possibilities. Agents also show up, so you may see a wave of new free agency rumors, too. There’s also always league business discussed, so we might hear some new bits on rules plans going forward, and the ongoing CBA battle.
For the Cubs, specifically, the GM Meetings figure to be critically important, as it’s a place where the front office can start laying the foundation for the transformational trades they’re hoping to pull off this offseason. Big deals often take a long time and multiple conversations to put together (especially when we’re still a few days away from qualifying offer acceptances, and weeks away from the non-tender deadline (also, long before the Kris Bryant grievance is settled)), so I would expect the Cubs to be talkative.
That is all to say, stay tuned this week. I’m really looking forward to seeing what trickles out, not only from the Cubs directly, but also all around the league. With so many clubs continuing to feign that they won’t exceed the luxury tax (*eyeroll*), we may be in for another grindingly slow winter. It’s also possible that, with a couple slow winters in the books, teams and players and agents will have made plans to adjust course this time around, and things could wind up looking very different. I’m not sure anyone is quite sure.
But we know a lot of the talks will start today. Let’s go. (Other offseason dates and deadlines here.)