5 stories to watch for during the MLB Winter Meetings

MLB’s annual Winter Meetings kick off Monday as representatives from all 30 teams will be in San Diego discussing potential trades and attempting to negotiate with player’s agents.

San Diego is the site for this year’s 2019 Winter Meetings and after dull 2017 and 2018 offseasons, the pace has already been much brisker this winter. As Ken Rosenthal pointed out in a recent article, teams have already spent nearly $200 million more this year than they had at this point last year.

Teams seem more open to spending money in 2019 than they have over the last few seasons, meaning the Winter Meetings should produce more than signings like Andrew McCutchen, JA Happ, and Charlie Morton – who were the only “big-name” free agents to sign at the meetings last year. The bar for exciting free agent signings has been set low and with superstar players Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, and Anthony Rendon all on the market this offseason, teams are going to be spending money.

Not only is the free-agent market more attractive this offseason, but there are also some elite-level players being made available via trade. The Indians, Red Sox, and Cubs have discussed trading players like Francisco Lindor, Mookie Betts, and Kris Bryant this winter.

There are plenty of options for teams that are looking to upgrade their roster as well as flip MLB-ready pieces in exchange for high-ranking prospects. Tons of movement is expected over this week, so here are the five stories to pay close attention to during the MLB Winter Meetings.