We can’t be caught off guard by this announcement, but it still stings to see the reality.
The Winter Meetings have been cancelled.
MLB has officially postponed the upcoming owners meetings (Nov. 17-19 in Arlington) and Winter Meetings (Dec. 7-10 in Dallas) as "in-person events." Both meetings will be conducted remotely as necessary, per MLB.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) October 30, 2020
Thanks to the pandemic, which is getting even worse (cool, cool), it was not going to be feasible to have a massive gathering in early December. Throw in the fact that minor league operations activities are a huge part of the Winter Meetings – and that’s all in flux – and it just didn’t make sense to have an in-person Winter Meetings this year.
Instead, the December 6 to 10 Winter Meetings might just become a virtual affair, with the eponymous meetings taking place as necessary over Zoom. What will it mean for fans who like to follow the feverish pace of rumors and transactions that culminate there? Hey, good question. I guess we’re going to see. It would be in MLB’s interest to try to recreate that week virtually, if at all possible, though I’m not quite sure how you do it. I guess we’ll see how it shakes out.