What Happens At Baseball Winter Meetings?

The Baseball Winter Meetings happen every winter during the offseason, usually the first week of December.  In 2016 the MLB Winter Meetings will occur on December 4-8 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.  Each year the location is in a different city, usually an MLB city. The Winter Meetings date back to 1876, the very first off-season of the National League, but they became an annual event starting in 1901.

At the Winter Meetings, representatives from all thirty Major League teams, and their 160 minor league baseball affiliates, attend for four days to discuss league business and to conduct off-season trades.  On the last day of the meetings the Rule 5 Draft occurs, in which minor league players who are not on a team’s 40-man roster can be drafted by a major league team.

The Meetings have become a trading frenzy over the past couple of decades, the site of some of the bigger transactions ever to occur in the major leagues, so they are watched closely and highly-anticipated.  Rumors have already begun, in October, so there is no doubt major trades will again be happening in two months.

Other events at the winter meetings include a trade show and the Baseball Employment Opportunities Job Fair.  The winner of the Ford C. Frick Award is also announced at the meetings, the Scout of the Year Award is presented at a banquet, and the Baseball Writers’ Association conducts its meeting at the same time.

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