CARLSBAD, Ca. _ Major League Baseball's 30 general managers have converged on this oceanfront resort for their annual exercise in camaraderie, collaboration and a little bit of espionage as they begin to feel one another out at the start of baseball's hot stove season.
The GMs will discuss state of the game issues, possible strategies for the next CBA negotiation, still a couple of years off, and potential rules changes. They will also poke around to see which players might be available from other teams, who of their colleagues they might be able to con and who is likely to try to con them.
And of course, there will be agents not only floating around, but floating rumors about their players and others, creating an air of intrigue for the next couple of days at least.
But as always at the GM meetings, it's foolish to expect very much to happen in the way of player movement. Most years, this is just a preliminary to next month's winter meetings in Las Vegas, and if recent history holds true, nothing of consequence may happen until early 2019.
Last season, an unusually slow one for the free-agent market, the first major signing didn't take place until Dec. 9, when the Los Angeles Angels signed Shohei Ohtani, and aside from the Yankees' mega trade for Giancarlo Stanton two days later, the blockbuster deal of the 2018 offseason didn't occur until Feb. 26, when the Red Sox signed J.D. Martinez to a five-year, $110 million contract, the deal that arguably put the Red Sox over the top to become 2018 World Champions.
This year, there are two big-ticket items on every team's wish list, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, and while their looming free agencies are likely to dominate the discussion here, don't expect to see either of them in a new uniform by the time everyone goes home on Thursday.
However, there are several other storylines to keep your eye on over the next three days:
