Agony and anticipation. That is what the winter meetings have always felt like for me. I am pretty sure many others feel the same. It has been more that way since the advent of free agency. Back in the day when players got no more than a one year deal and were tied to their teams by the reserve clause. For you youngins, that means that the team that signed them or traded for them owned their contracts and the only way out was release or trade.
And back then if you were released you usually had to go back and work your way back into the majors.