CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: Major League Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings kicked off yesterday in San Diego, the first time the event has been held in person since 2019 (the COVID-19 pandemic pushed them online in 2020, while the lockout canceled them last year). In many ways, this is the true kickoff of the offseason, as it is at the Winter Meetings that many trades get completed and free agent contracted agreed to; in 2019, for example, Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, and Zack Wheeler all signed long-term deals.
Beyond the trade and free agent markets, the next few days will be jam-packed.