Five Storylines to Watch as the Winter Meetings Loom

Starting today, hundreds and hundreds of MLB executives, scouts, administrative personnel, and media members will gather in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Resort for the annual MLB Winter Meetings. Every year the Winter Meeting always brings about some sort of surprising move by a team or two and this year is looking no different.

In the past, there have been free agents who have inked deals during the Winter Meetings and blockbuster trades that have happened with plenty of rumors and murmurs intwined throughout. While the players being focused on change's every year, the same general questions remain in effect like: Which team will spend the most money? Which top free agent will sign with who? Will anymore make a blockbuster trade to change the dynamics of their roster or even the respective division they play in? All of those questions will be in play over the next four and a half days, but here's five storylines to hone in on, as the Winter Meetings start in earnest this evening and tomorrow morning.

1. Manny Machado and Bryce Harper Extravaganza - For those of you, who are tired of hearing Manny Machado and Bryce Harper's name, sorry in advance. This year's Winter Meetings will certainly be dominated by those two individuals and coincidence or not, Bryce Harper, just happens to be a native of the Las Vegas area. If that was a planned situation or not, cannot be confirmed, but what will be fascinating is to see if Harper, Scott Boras, and one of the 30 MLB teams out there, can come to terms on a deal prior to the final bell on Thursday afternoon. The same goes for Manny Machado and the long list of suitors that are currently planning on meeting with his agent, Dan Lozano, throughout the coming days.

2. Free Agent Starting Pitching Market - Now that Patrick Corbin is off the board, the top free agent starting pitcher from this winter's class is officially claimed and off the board. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't a handful of good options still remaining on the market that could be claimed by the time Thursday afternoon rolls around. For one, there's Dallas Keuchel, who is a groundball extraordinaire, still available, along with the likes of J.A. Happ, Charlie Morton, and Gio Gonzalez, all of whom could add some substantial depth to a contending team's rotational plans. Even if none of the four aforementioned names are claimed by Thursday, you can be rest assured that there will be plenty of rumors swirling around them.

3. Starting Pitching Trade Options - If a contending team doesn't find any of the names listed above intriguing, then they will likely turn to the trade market where there are a couple of different options. The Cleveland Indians have made it known that both Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber are available, the Arizona Diamondbacks might be willing to trade Robbie Ray in the right deal, and the Philadelphia Phillies have been rumored to be willing to move some of their starting pitching depth to address another area of need on their 25-man roster. In addition to those names, there's always that regular and postseason beast, Madison Bumgarner, out in San Francisco that could be dealt as well.

4. Reliever Mania - At last year's Winter Meetings, numerous free agent relievers signed and were immediately taken off the board, one right after another, it seemed. With the amount of teams looking to bolster their bullpen heading into the 2019 regular season, that could again be a pattern that all of us see this upcoming week. Of course, the reliever market will continue to remain held up until the big fish, Craig Kimbrel, finds a new home, but there are plenty of names and this will likely be yet another area where the rumors are flying, as teams try to identify the best bullpen group for both the regular season and postseason, heading into next year.

5. J.T. Realmuto Trade - Outside of pitching, J.T. Realmuto is probably the most well known name currently available on the trade market at the moment and currently has plenty of teams pursuing him. As of right now, it's fair to say that both the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves are out on Realmuto, as both teams have addressed their need for catching, but teams like the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, and the Los Angeles Angels are ones to watch this week. Each team has been linked to Realmuto in some form or fashion over the past couple of weeks and it would be no surprise to see, one of them, finally ante up and meet the Marlins steep asking price.