I love the Winter Meetings

[Centerfield]

It's like 72 hours of binge-eating Hot Stove Baseball. Even the stuff that doesn't involve the Mets. It's fascinating stuff.

Plus, for 3 days it feels like baseball season even in December.

I know the company line is we are going in looking for RH help on the bench and a LH middle reliever. I think Sandy's coming home with Mike Fucking Trout.

And of course, Giancarlo Stanton.

[Centerfield]

I guess the only thing making me nervous is that the Nats are linked to guys like Chris Sale, Andrew McCutcheon, and Mark Melancon.

I'm guessing they will get one of the big name closers. Probably Melancon. Hoping they strike out on Sale. Sale would just eat through our lineup.

If they get McCutcheon obviously we gotta hope the guy is washed up and gets busted for roids and prostitution and other shit.

[Ceetar]

personally I hate it. it's 95% rumors, fluff, public negotiations and spin, and some of the beat-guy interactions feel vaguely voyeuristic and annoying.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Ceetar wrote: personally I hate it. it's 95% rumors, fluff, public negotiations and spin, and some of the beat-guy interactions feel vaguely voyeuristic and annoying.

Those are the things I like.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't care about the fluff, but I like the rumors.

[TransMonk]

Everybody knows...it's all about the fluff.

[Edgy MD]

And the raising money to build a baseball field in honor of Shannon Forde. It's about that also.

[Guest cooby]

I used to DREAD them when I was a kid, constantly fretting that they'd trade my favorite. And worse, I wouldn't know until the next day when I'd read the paper

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I can't get enough. As long as I'm reading the rumors in the right order, it's great, pulp-plot-twist fun.


(BTW: the Nats won't be getting Melancon.)

[Centerfield]

Meeting this afternoon, stepping up efforts to land Sale.

[Centerfield]

Per Rubin, an agent says the Mets are "bottom-feeding" on the reliever market. Low cost guys on a 1 year deal.

[Edgy MD]

I'm OK with that. Middle feeding with guys who you give two years to, but are lucky to get one effective season out of, or none (Bastardo, Carrasco) are the deals I fear.

Building bullpens from interior pieces and Hendersons and Evelands and LaTroys is fine with me. If the Valverdes and the Farnsworths don't perform, they are more easily shed.

The population of journeymen relievers has a high asshole quotient (Farnsworth), but getting them on one-year deals tends to keep the noxious personality bigness at bay.