Printer-friendly

Contact Author

December 12, 2008

On the Beat

Winter Meetings Wrap

by John Perrotto

LAS VEGAS—The entire sport of baseball seems to be in a holding pattern, something that was quite evident during the Winter Meetings which ended on Thursday with the Rule 5 Draft. Executives, managers, and scouts hustled out of the Bellagio in order to catch flights home, and that may have been the most movement seen during the four-day event.

There were five trades during the four days, but only one had grabbed everyone's attention, the 12-team extravaganza between the Mets, Mariners, and Indians late Wednesday night. The lone major free-agent signing at the meetings themselves involved the Mets inking closer Francisco Rodriguez to a three-year, $37 million contract, though Yankees general manager Brian Cashman shuttled to San Francisco to grab the prize of this year's market as left-hander CC Sabathia agreed to a seven-year, $161 million deal that won't be officially announced until next week.

Otherwise, the most enduring images of the meetings were of baseball people standing around the Bellagio's casino, with the occasional spotting of someone hanging out at the race and sports book. Though we won't name names, a manager nicknamed "Sweet" sure seemed to enjoy watching the ponies.

Most baseball executives believe that the slow pace of the free-agent market—the Sabathia mega-deal and the Bellagio's six-dollar cups of coffee notwithstanding—can be attributed to the United States undergoing its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression struck eight decades ago. "The economy is something that does concern me personally, and should concern everybody in baseball," Marlins president David Samson said. "I think if there are any agents out there who do not believe the economy is a factor in how teams do their business, they are in for a major surprise. What's going on is much bigger than the game of baseball. This is a different world. Anyone who does not see that is kidding themselves."

The Yankees apparently do live in a different world; they signed Sabathia to the largest contract ever offered to a pitcher. They are also trying to sign such other big-ticket free agents as right-handers A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe, and first baseman Mark Teixeira. The Yankees' winning bid to Sabathia made the Brewers' reported final offer to retain the lefty of six years and $110 million look like tip money.