The annual Winter Meetings will take place next Monday through Thursday in Las Vegas, NV. This is where many signings and trades will take place, and future signings and trades groundwork will surely be laid next week at these meetings.
The Atlanta Braves have already splurged and made a couple moves early in the off-season, but the real fun part should begin next week.
This year’s off-season has gotten off to a much faster pace than last year’s did and that is a good thing for us baseball fans. More importantly to us Braves fans, the NL East has been mostly at the forefront of almost all trade talks as we have seen 4 teams in our division including us making moves to win the division next year. I don’t see things changing next week at the Winter Meetings.
Let’s get to sinking our teeth into possible Braves options that we could see unfold next week. First however, let me tell you that while General Manager Alex Anthopoulos has always had a reputation of making big moves, but oddly, he rarely completes them while at the Winter Meetings… that’s been his past tendency, at least:
Asked if Jays are unlikely to complete a deal at these Winter Meetings, Anthopoulos: "As I sit here today, I would say yes."
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) December 9, 2009
With that being said, don’t be surprised or discouraged if the Braves don’t complete any significant moves next week. The groundwork could be made for a future deal and we may not know it.