The quiet period of MLB free agency ended at the beginning of this week and it led into the start of the General Managers Meetings at the Omni Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The annual GM meetings are an opportunity for baseball’s executives to gather in one area and in some sense begin the early groundwork on potential trades and signings that are to come throughout the winter and potentially into next season.
This year’s General Managers Meetings started Tuesday and were scheduled to wind to a close on Thursday.
However, MLB canceled the meetings early due to a stomach virus that struck more than 30 officials, per Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated:
More people developed symptoms on Wednesday afternoon, meaning the ailment stems from a virus rather than a foodborne illness. As a result, MLB canceled the remainder of the GM meetings.
According to Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic, while the GM Meetings were ended early, it’s agents who now are going to be most impacted because of a shift to virtual talks:
MLB’s GM meetings were scheduled to be over after Wednesday. It’s the agents meetings that take place in AZ after that are impacted by the virus. Each agency has to fly in at least one member for the annual meeting. And they got a memo today that it will be on Zoom instead
— Britt Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) November 9, 2023
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes were among those on hand in Scottsdale this week. Friedman spoke with reporters on Tuesday, and Gomes followed suit Wednesday.
It’s unclear if either are among those who fell ill.
Ohtani dominates GM Meetings
Although Dodgers front office personnel and all other executives declined to discuss Shohei Ohtani in specific terms, the two-way star undoubtably was the headliner of the General Managers Meetings as he’s expected to sign the richest contract in MLB history.
The Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox are among the teams that have most prominently been connected to Ohtani.
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