The Winter Meetings start officially tomorrow, but Rob Manfred is already there and speaking at the annual Winter Meeting Banquet that takes place on the eve of the Winter Meetings. This year, the trades and Free Agent signings didn’t all wait to be crafted at the Winter Meetings. Different from past years, the Top 3 pitchers have been spoken for already with historic size deals for Zach Greinke and David Price, and a $100+ million deal for Jordan Zimmermann.
On the eve of the meetings at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, rumors are the Reds are loading up for a blockbuster trade as Aroldis Chapman and Todd Frazier are being made available.
So far, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo has been quiet on major moves as so far just making just Free Agent signings but only one has been a Major League deal for Oliver Perez. On Rizzo’s ledger is signing Sean Burnett, Reed Johnson, Chris Heisey and Logan Schafer to MiLB deals with Spring Training invites. With Oliver Perez added to the 40 man roster, the Nats 40 man sits at 38 players with the additions of Kieboom, Lee and Bostick last month to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.
Media members say you need a road map to find your hotel room at the Gaylord Opryland, which is the largest US non-casino hotel in the US with 2,881 rooms and 220 suites. Not only will executives from MLB be there, but also Minor League baseball who are actually the official hosts of the Winter Meetings event which is now attended by 100’s of media members, and those in the trade will be there for the annual baseball Trade Show where prospective vendors display everything from Bobbleheads to Garden Gnomes to the newest novelties hoping to make it’s way to a giveaway like 2015’s Werth Chia Pet!
A Conversation with @MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. What a treat to have him at tonight's #WinterMeetings Banquet! pic.twitter.com/qs5n0gwjhU
— MiLB Special Events (@MiLBSpEvents) December 7, 2015
The good news for Nats fans is that the December 2016 Winter Meetings will be held in the DC area at the Gaylord resort in National Harbor on the Potomac River in Prince Georges County Maryland. The MGM Casino is set to be open by then as their website posted, “On-site construction begins with the intention of opening the doors of MGM National Harbor In the second half of 2016”.
Mike Rizzo has a few main holes to fill in the bullpen and getting his left-handed bat and which ways will Rizzo go in either Free Agency or Trades: Free Agency or Trade Route? What’s the better path?
You might also remember the Jim Bowden list of Big Trades he’s predicting on ESPN Insider, and since this is a subscriber piece we deleted all of the write-ups and additional destinations except for the players that affect the Nats.
Jim Bowden’s 10 Big Name Trade List
| 1. Aroldis Chapman | Possible destinations: Nationals |
| 2. Carlos Gonzalez | |
| 3. Todd Frazier | |
| 4. Brett Gardner | Possible destinations:Nationals |
| 5. Ken Giles | Possible destinations: Nationals |
| 6. Tyson Ross | |
| 7. Jay Bruce | |
| 8. Starlin Castro | |
| 9. Brad Boxberger | Possible destinations: Nationals, |
| 10. Drew Storen | Possible destinations: Blue Jays, Cubs, Tigers, Astros, Giants, Diamondbacks. |
Your guess as to what Rizzo will do?
