The 2010 MLB Winter meetings kick off in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on Monday and are a time for wheeling and dealing among the various general managers in major league baseball. Of course, much like New Years' Eve, the winter meetings are often more about the talk than about the action. Some deals will likely get done, but I'd imagine more deals will have a chance to percolate with all the GMs under one roof. Discussions will heat up with free agents and rumors will fly, but often times the meetings are as much about networking as they are about getting deals done.
The San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics will be well-represented at the meetings and both have their own issues to work out. The Giants have handled much of their necessary business, including re-signing Pat Burrell and adding Miguel Tejada to replace Juan Uribe. Brian Sabean indicated the Giants are always looking for potential upgrades throughout their bench and bullpen, as would be expected. Of course McCovey Chronicles had their own preview of the Giants plans this week:
Introduction
The Giants are not expected to do anything at the Winter Meetings, which start tomorrow.
Free Agent Preview
The Giants are not expected to sign any free agents at the Winter Meetings.
Trade Preview
The Giants are not expected to make any trades.
The Oakland Athletics have several holes to fill and are likely to be a bit more active this week than the Giants. The A's have been attempting to land a big bat but have lost out on the likes of Adam Dunn and Lance Berkman. There were also rumors of an offer to Adrian Beltre, but that has quieted down and the A's are now considering backup options, including possibly Angels OF/DH Hideki Matsui. We'll have more updates on that this week.
The week will also include the Rule V Draft, which is an opportunity for a team to find a potential diamond in the rough. Teams have to leave certain players unprotected and other teams have the opportunity to swipe them and add them to their 2011 25-man roster. We'll have more details on Thursday's Rule V Draft later in the week.