Baseball Winter Meetings begin today

The annual Baseball Winter Meetings begin today at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Last year the Blue Jays walked into the meetings with their heads held up high, already having acquired Melky Cabrera, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, and Jose Reyes. New manager John Gibbons also was there in Nashville to greet the press.

Behind the scenes, Alex Anthopoulos had already chatted to the Mets about R.A. Dickey, but they were a little pushed back from the sticker shock when Sandy Alderson asked for Travis d'Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard. According to Shi Davidi and John Lott in Great Expectations, Anthopoulos only had a single meeting with Alderson during he meetings, with the Jays sitting there as observers when James Shields and Wade Davis were traded. So even if nothing seems to be happening, one never knows how close the front office is to finalizing a deal.

We can only hope for a big deal that we can write about, but if nothing else, there will be a bunch of interviews, rumours, and speculations for the next few days.

One thing that we know will happen is the Rule 5 draft, which will happen in a few days. It is unlikely that the Blue Jays will be picking up anyone from the draft, but the Blue Jays do have some pieces that other teams may want: Marc Hulet ranks Ryan Tepera first in his list of "hidden gems" that are available, and included Marcus Walden on his list as well.

Do you think that the Blue Jays will make a significant move this week?