LAS VEGAS — Baseball’s Winter Meetings run on the language of commerce. The conversation is fixed on shopping, bargain hunting, acquiring key assets—and almost all of it is figurative. But Winter Meetings do have a space for the literal purchase of tangible items. Beyond the hypothetical bazaar of free agents, there’s a physical bazaar of … everything else. The event’s accompanying annual baseball trade show is an expo for relevant products and services; it’s a rare spotlight for baseball’s little background practicalities, material as unglamorous as it is necessary. In a hotel ballroom packed with vendors, a team can find equipment for essentially every part of its daily operations: ballpark seats, stadium lighting, giant promotional inflatables, laundry supplies, ticketing software, lemonade.
The Wacky World of Minor League Mascots Arrives at the Winter Meetings
