News Regarding the Owners and Winter Meetings

Friday, Major League Baseball announced that the Owners Meetings and the Winter Meetings were cancelled. First with the news was Jeff Passan of ESPN.

The latest fallout from the pandemic in baseball: There will be no in-person Winter Meetings this year. This was long expected, but Major League Baseball just made the cancellation official.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 30, 2020

Both meetings would have taken place in the Dallas area. More specifically, the Owners Meetings were taking place in Arlington. The Winter Meetings were slated to be held at the Omni Dallas Hotel.

Over the years, the Winter Meetings have become a focal point of baseball. It’s one-week during the calendar year where executives from all 30 teams gather under one roof. Trade proposals, free agent signings, and significant news is always announced. Furthermore, the meetings include a job fair for prospective applicants as well as award ceremonies throughout the four days. The award ceremonies honor various people throughout the game.

On the other hand, the Owner Meetings usually receive less fanfare. They are a time for all 30 owners to gather together and discuss the hot-button issues facing the game today. This year, those meetings will likely include discussions on the rule changes that have taken place over the last year. However, anything that needs to be voted on will need to be done virtually instead of face-to-face.

2019 Winter Meetings in a Nutshell

Given the uncertainty regarding the financial state of the game currently, there was no telling what this years Winter Meetings would be like. If you rewind just to last year, it was an action packed week in San Diego. If you recall, the New York Yankees signed Gerrit Cole to that record breaking nine-year, $324 million dollar deal. That was the one of three major fireworks to happen last year.

The other two involved both Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg. Rendon signed a seven-year, $245 million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Angels. In addition, Strasburg returned to the Washington Nationals on a seven-year, $245 million dollar contract. Also, you can’t forget that each of those individuals were Scott Boras clients.

Final Thoughts

The news regarding the Owner and Winter Meetings is not a surprise. Given the circumstances of this year, the announcement was bound to happen. Even though both meetings have been cancelled, business will still get done. It will just happen in a different format than everyone is used to.

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