As the offseason continues to get underway, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. GM Meetings continue:
The annual GM Meetings are currently underway in San Antonio, Texas, with top decision-makers around the baseball world having gathered to open negotiations as hot stove season gets underway. While these meetings are far less active than the Winter Meetings in December, they nonetheless offer important clues as to the direction each franchise plans to move in for the coming offseason. Today, in particular, figures to be significant as Chandler Rome of The Athletic noted yesterday that agent Scott Boras is set to make his annual address to reporters regarding the state of the game and the coming offseason. One of the most powerful agents in the sport, Boras represents a number of the winter’s top free agents including Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman, and Blake Snell.
2. Padres, Shildt nearing deal:
It was reported yesterday evening that the Padres are finalizing an extension for manager Mike Shildt. The possibility of San Diego looking to lock up their manager longer-term has been on the table for some time now, but the sides have clearly made progress on the deal and it could be officially announced in the near future. Shildt spent four years at the helm of the Cardinals and won NL Manager of the Year in 2019. 2024 was his first season with the Padres after Bob Melvin departed to manage in San Francisco, and it hardly could have gone better for the club as he led San Diego to a 93-69 record and a win in the NL Wild Card series over the Braves, though they eventually fell in five games to the Dodgers during the NLDS.
3. Big names coming off the trade market?
As fans around the league begin speculating about their team’s plans for the coming offseason, many focus on the possibility of finding a star on the trade market rather than paying the hefty prices to be seen in free agency. Such a maneuver might be difficult to pull off this winter, however, as even teams that weren’t competitive in 2024 seem reluctant to part ways with their stars. Yesterday saw both the Athletics and Blue Jays throw cold water on the possibility of trading a frequently speculated upon star (Brent Rooker and Bo Bichette, respectively). Those comments from Toronto also notably come after frequent indications in recent months that the club has no interest in dealing away first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. With so many offensive talents thought to be possible trade candidates now seemingly off the board, will other surprise hitters reach the trade market or will teams have to settle for improving on offense through free agency?
Should the meetings still be called the “GM’ meetings, since for many if not most teams, the GM is second in charge and reports to someone with a title like “president of baseball operations”? Do the PBO’s go this meeting too?
Eat a Snickers
PoBOs are GMs
GMs are AGMs
I blame Theo Epstein for the title inflation.
Lord – And AGMs are now managers, since there’s like 5 of them on a team.
It’s like every full time employee at every ad agency is a VP. (The ones with all the wild creative titles are the temps…)
Banks are like that too. Everyone is a VP so that the customer feels important.
coop – Titles don’t mean squat, it’s all about the Benjis.
“PoBOs are GMs”…You are correct, sir. We have the “walks on water” Theo Epstein to thank for the advent of the “celebrity GM”.
And personally, I happen to like Theo Epstein, because he’s very accomplished, won World Series and finally broke the dreaded Cub’s curse.
It only started to keep other teams from poaching their front office people.
coop – Yeah it prevents a good AGM from leaving if they are offered a GM position elsewhere, but overall it’s a reflection of MLB making too much money. The expanding admin payrolls is ridiculous.
For example there’s 300 employees in the Red Sox analytics department, insane.
GM Meetings not GM meetings…? Existential.
Can they move to have a person there using air quotes every time someone says ‘GM Meetings”, perhaps? That’s a workable solution for everyone involved. (Except for the sorry chap that has to do this, but that’s for another day).
PBO positions were created to keep GM’s from leaving to run another team. Dipoto still calls the shots in Seattle even though he took on the PBO position.
mike – I think it’s now called the “Good Morning” aka “GM” meetings.
Or maybe the meetings are now sponsored by General Mills?
Cool cool, so the Jays will lose both of their stars for either nothing or a very muted return at the trade deadline and then the fans will suffer through a decade of rebuilding with zero top prospects in the system
Mystery – They would get QO compensation if the two players walk after next season.
I agree with you on Vlad, they should either sign him to an extension now or trade him now. He has nothing to prove.
On Bo, it makes more sense to rebuild his value next season and then either extend or trade him at the deadline.
So a couple of second and fifth round picks. Seeing as they aren’t able to draft stars in the first round, why would fans care about some draft compensation after the first round.
Vlad should have been extended way before this off season, he has now made himself an overpay candidate who plays first base, and now the jays will be forced to either overpay on an extension, this off season, lose him at the deadline or in the off season, or over pay him even more next off season when all teams can negotiate. His entire tenure has been mishandled by Atkins.
Mystery – Vlad’s numbers did decline quite a bit from 2021 peak down to 2023. Waiting a year and paying a little more is better than giving a longterm contract last year and then watching him continue to decline.
I think at this point Vladdy is Fielder (Cecil or Prince, take your pick) and the Jays should extend him now.
“Vlad should have been extended way before”..For me, Vlad G. is kind of hard to evaluate. Sometimes he plays like the proverbial superstar “big bat”. And sometimes he’s plays “decent” or “good”.
And not to mention, signing Vlad to a long term deal requires a tricky evaluation on how his wide body will fare as he ages. I’m not that surprised the Jays waited to decide on him.
That’s exactly my point. They should have tried to extend him while his value was lower. Now he’s getting overpaid based on other contracts and his age
Cecil was out of the league at 34 and Prince at 32.
Vlad is going to want and probably get a 12 plus year contract. Let’s hope it’s not the Jays paying that for years 7 through 12
Mystery – Better to do what they did, wait the year and pay a little more. When you rush into longterm contracts, like Cleveland with Straw and perhaps Seattle with JRod, it could hamstring your organization for years. There was no guarantee Vladdy would rebound this year.
“That’s exactly my point”….You make some sound, solid and good points.
Mystery – Yeah I agree there, I wouldn’t give him more than 5 years guaranteed. Team options after that. His defense was really bad this year from what I saw.
MysteryWhiteBoy13;
The Jays situation is one of the most interesting in MLB. There’s an obvious problem with developing reasonably salaried home-grown talent. They’ve got coaches galore with fancy titles yet nothing changes.
I wrote under another article that the ballpark is the center of an entertainment complex in Toronto. This is the pattern all pro team sports franchises around the world are moving to. With a 6th WC team we see on September 1 that 10-11 teams in each league are contenders for a playoff spot. Those 10-11 teams are pretty much any team that is: 1) not rebuilding; and 2) not suffering major injuries to multiple key players. The teams can push the: “Get into the playoffs and any team can get hot” narrative. We’ll be seeing / hearing references in August-September 2025 aa to what the Tigers did in 2024.
The Jays are Canada’s baseball team. They generate a lot of ticket sales, radio listeners, and TV viewers. They generate a tremendous amount of merchandise sales. Their product is baseball entertainment They generate a lot of revenue.
Don’t fix it if it’s not broke.
That was a lot of words to say the front office is out of their league.
MysteryWhiteBoy13;
LOL
In Baseball Ops – Yes.
Maybe you care. Maybe other Jays fans posting on MLBTR and calling talk shows etc. care. But in the overall picture…..
sorry, you people are a minority and just don’t matter. The money keeps coming in.
They’re selling entertainment. They sign a FA or two this offseason; maybe package a few of their so-so young players out of the farm system to trade for an overpriced name player whose salary their team wants unload. Then sell those moves as upgrades. Been doing that for years and the money keeps coming in.
You write “the front office is out of their league”. In comparison to other FO’s on the baseball front you’re correct. But let me put it to you this way: Say the Jays unload 3-4 of their high-salaried players this offseason for prospects. Will fans that spend money be happy, or will they figure the team is in some sort of rebuild and put the Jays in ice for a few years until they see how those players work out?
Money doesn’t come in when Toronto sports teams lose. Except for the leafs and this is historically accurate. Fans don’t waste their time watching the Jays when they aren’t competing. This isn’t the Yanks or Red Sox who have a loyal fan base when the team isn’t good.
MysteryWhiteBoy13;
If the money wasn’t coming in something might have been done at least 2 years ago.
Blue Jays attendance has been 3rd in the AL each of the
last 3 years.
The money IS coming in…..so far.
They made the playoffs 2 years ago. Did you miss that
Sounds a lot like the Cubs &;Wrigley Field. People come for all the bars and stuff so the baseball is secondary. For some people (not me).
I feel like their priority is to sign Vlad and let Bo walk. I could be wrong, I don’t claim to be plugged in to Jays baseball.
They would absolutely be better off maximizing the return by trading them now. However, the front office is trying to save their jobs so the players will remain.
Lost 12 grand betting on last night. Don’t have it and don’t know how to pay it and the bookie is blowing up the phone constantly with calls and messages.
LMAO.
Hendu – Easy solution, buy DJT stock. You’ll make a fortune that way.
“Blowing up the phone”..You’re as good as gone, buddy. Can I have your season tickets?
Money can be replaced. If you are serious, reach out to the book to explain as it only gets worse. Then remove yourself from the apps and get to a recovery meeting. Most who gamble do so responsibly but a few do not and will lose more than money by continuing. Jobs, family and other relationships, credibility, etc. are just a few of what is really at stake.
“Money can be replaced”..I’m guessing he should be evaluating how he’ll deal with life without his thumbs or perhaps 2 broken arms. That’s reasonable and far more likely to happen.
Im fine with a rehab/recovery situation, but going to a recovery meeting when you owe a bookie THOUSANDS of dollars, may be the best example of “too little too late” that I’ve ever heard.
It might be a good idea to examine getting out of town or going into “witness protection”.
dewey – He’s not serious, he has repeated that story several times.
And I’m guessing he was talking about betting on the election, not a game ….. not a game, not a game …..
Someone said it was a sure thing because of the “blue wall”.
EHenderson;
You go a good gimmick going here.
Weren’t any baseball games last night.
Your point?
Ahhhh…..fortunately MLBTR has a Mute button.
@EHenderson
Why would someone care about fiat currency? The government just inflates their debt to devalue the overall debt and as a result, the money you have. Money today isn’t even worth a fraction of what it was worth 30 years ago.
Move?
shapiro and his useless carry on bagage atkins, Have Never Ever built an elite team…
They NEED TO BE FIRED…..The 2 Cleveland Clowns in 30 years have not Won anything…..!!
They bungle everything they touch….
Watch THEIR MESS unfold in 2025….Sickening !!
When a Front Office states that a player is not up for trade, does not really mean that player is not up for trade. Saying a certain player is up for trade runs down the quality of starting bids. Keeping moves close to their vest is how the best GM’s work.