Winter Meetings

Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees include league executives, team owners, general managers, team scouts, visitors from baseball-playing countries, trade show exhibitors, and people seeking employment with minor league organizations. The Rule 5 draft, in which minor league players who are not on a team's 40-man roster can be drafted by a major league team, is held on the last day of the meetings.

History The tradition of baseball holding off-season meetings during December dates back to 1876, the first offseason of the National League. At the 1876 meetings, William Hulbert was selected to be the league's president, and two teams (the New York Mutuals and Philadelphia Athletics) were expelled from the league for failing to play all their scheduled games; they had refused to make their final road trip of the season. The Winter Meetings became an annual event in 1901.

1927 – New York City 1928 – New York City 1929 – New York City 1930 – New York City 1931 – Chicago 1932 – New York City 1933 – Chicago 1934 – New York City 1935 – Chicago 1936 – New York City 1937 – Chicago 1938 – New York City 1939 – Cincinnati 1940 – Chicago 1941 – Chicago 1942 – Chicago 1943 – New York City 1944 – New York City 1945 – Chicago 1946 – Los Angeles 1947 – Miami 1948 – Chicago 1949 – New York City 1950 – St. Petersburg 1951 – Columbus 1952 – Phoenix 1953 – Atlanta 1954 – Houston 1955 – Columbus 1956 – Jacksonville 1957 – Colorado Springs 1958 – Washington, D.C. 1959 – St. Petersburg 1960 – Louisville 1961 – Tampa 1962 – Rochester 1963 – San Diego 1964 – Houston 1965 – Fort Lauderdale 1966 – Columbus 1967 – Mexico City 1968 – San Francisco 1969 – Ft. Lauderdale 1970 – Los Angeles 1971 – Phoenix 1972 – Honolulu 1973 – Houston 1974 – New Orleans 1975 – Hollywood, Florida 1976 – Los Angeles 1977 – Honolulu 1978 – Orlando 1979 – Toronto 1980 – Dallas 1981 – Hollywood 1982 – Honolulu 1983 – Nashville 1984 – Houston 1985 – San Diego 1986 – Hollywood 1987 – Dallas 1988 – Atlanta 1989 – Nashville 1990 – Rosemont, Illinois 1991 – Miami Beach 1992 – Louisville 1993 – Atlanta 1994 – Dallas 1995 – Los Angeles 1996 – Boston 1997 – New Orleans 1998 – Nashville 1999 – Anaheim 2000 – Dallas 2001 – Boston 2002 – Nashville 2003 – New Orleans 2004 – Anaheim 2005 – Dallas 2006 – Bay Lake, Florida (Disney World) 2007 – Nashville 2008 – Paradise, Nevada 2009 – Indianapolis 2010 – Bay Lake 2011 – Dallas 2012 – Nashville 2013 – Bay Lake 2014 – San Diego 2015 – Nashville 2016 – National Harbor, Maryland 2017 – Bay Lake 2018 – Paradise 2019 – San Diego 2020 – Virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, originally planned for Dallas 2021 – Canceled due to the 2021 MLB lockout, originally planned for Bay Lake 2022 – San Diego 2023 – Nashville 2024 – Dallas 2025 – Lake Buena Vista, Florida 2026 – San Diego

Attendees The Winter Meetings attract several thousand participants; in 2014 organizers anticipated 3,000 attendees. These include team owners, field managers, team scouts, players' agents, lawyers and accountants specializing in baseball, and visitors from baseball-playing countries. While it is rare for players who are under contract to attend, free agents often do come to take advantage of the opportunity to introduce themselves to many teams. At the 2014 Winter Meetings in San Diego, an estimated 750 media personnel received press passes.

Receptions are held nightly by each of the 30 major league teams for their minor league affiliates. A luncheon is also held for major league managers and baseball reporters.

Player trades and signings

With all the principals in one place, the Winter Meetings are typically the site of player trades and free-agent signings. However, the informal meetings that used to take place in hotel lobbies up until the end of the 20th century have been replaced by texting and emailing; most interactions take place in the privacy of suites due to the preponderance of media personnel and fans converging on the site.

Among the notable trades and signings that have been made at the Winter Meetings are:

At the 1975 Winter Meetings in Fort Lauderdale, new Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck sat at a table in the lobby behind a sign that said "Open for Business". During the course of the meetings, Veeck negotiated six trades involving 22 players. At the 1988 Winter Meetings in Atlanta, the Texas Rangers closed three trades involving 15 players and signed free agent pitcher Nolan Ryan. At the 1992 Winter Meetings in Louisville, first-time free agent Barry Bonds was signed by the San Francisco Giants for six years and $43 million. Bonds personally negotiated to have a hotel suite at his disposal during road games. On the last day of the 2011 Winter Meetings in Dallas, Albert Pujols, who had won a World Series ring with the St. Louis Cardinals that fall, inked a 10-year, $250 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels. In the space of 24 hours at the 2014 Winter Meetings in San Diego, the Los Angeles Dodgers concluded six transactions with four teams, involving 19 players and a free agent. On consecutive days during the 2019 Winter Meetings in San Diego, Gerrit Cole signed a nine-year, $324 million deal with the New York Yankees, followed by Anthony Rendon agreeing to a seven-year, $245 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels the following evening.

Other events

Concurrent with the Winter Meetings, a trade show featuring close to 300 vendors of baseball equipment, services, and promotions takes place. Another annual event is the Professional Baseball Employment Opportunities Job Fair, during which recent college graduates seeking internships and employment with minor league organizations schedule on-site interviews. The month of December is considered "the height of baseball hiring season", as 400 to 500 workers are hired each year.

From 1951 to 2019, the "King of Baseball" title was awarded to a minor league veteran at the Winter Meetings banquet. With the 2020 minor-league season having been canceled due to COVID-19, the award was not presented in that year, and it was discontinued when MLB took over the minor leagues in 2021.

Several events associated with the Hall of Fame also take place at the Winter Meetings: The voting bodies that superseded the Veterans Committee, which are now the only bodies that elect long-retired players and non-playing personnel to the Hall, meet and vote. The winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting is announced. The Baseball Writers' Association of America conducts its annual meeting and announces the recipient of its BBWAA Career Excellence Award (historically the J. G. Taylor Spink Award) for excellence in baseball writing. Both the Frick and Career Excellence Awards are presented as part of the Hall of Fame's annual induction festivities. The Scout of the Year award is presented at a special banquet.

Notes References

Sources

Winter Meetings

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