The General Managers Meetings officially begins on Monday, November 9 in Boca Raton, Florida and will last through Thursday, November 12.
All 30 MLB general managers will meet and discuss a variety of baseball issues, participate in various workshops and make presentations, and elect the 2015 MLB Executive of the Year. But of course that is merely the backdrop.
The GM Meetings have evolved into a staging ground for all of the wheeling and dealing that is to come this winter. It’s the official start of the Hot Stove season and more and more trades and signings come out of it with each passing year.
It was during the GM Meetings last year, that Sandy Alderson signed free agent Michael Cuddyer to a two-year, $21 million dollar deal.
My guess is that this year, Sandy will be spending a great deal of his time trying to gauge interest in Jon Niese, Juan Lagares and perhaps even Zack Wheeler who he tried to deal at the trade deadline and discovered teams were very interested.
With most of the player agents on hand as well, I’d expect Sandy will connect with some of them to get a feel on free agents Ian Desmond, Darren O’Day, Ben Zobrist, Ryan Madson, Dexter Fowler, and Denard Span.
The GM meetings has also been the venue for many a heated exchange between Sandy Alderson and agent Scott Boras.
Boras continued his persistent mocking of the Mets last year, by saying “these days the Mets are doing a little better and shopping in the ready-foods section” a clear swipe at the Michael Cuddyer signing.
Having had enough, Sandy Alderson fired back during a press conference at the GM Meetings. “Boras has been shopping near the meat section. That’s where he gets all his bullshit.”
After this season’s innings limit fiasco, where both sides basically accused the other of lying, it will be interesting to see how the two will react when they meet on Monday.
Armed with what he says is an increased payroll, I’m looking forward to seeing how Sandy navigates his way through the next two months as he readies the team to defend their National League title. There are some key areas he will certainly need to address between now and Spring Training.
What ever happens, it should be an interesting four days filled with lots of rumors, actual trades, and even some early free agent signings. We’re looking forward to covering all the action for you on MMO.
