The General Manager Meetings, more commonly know as the GM Meetings, take place in November as a way to get ready for the 2020 season. This is the first period of time where we see executives interact and basically ‘feel each other out’ as far as what each team’s goal is for the upcoming season and yes, the pieces that they will look to trade or acquire.
Dan O’Dowd, a former MLB executive, and Brian Kenny of MLB Network joined together to discuss what front office members do during this period:
What goes on at the GM Meetings? Dan O’Dowd joined Brian Kenny on #MLBNow to lay out a typical GM’s agenda. pic.twitter.com/gV6SHWVxGS
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 10, 2019
Future of Baseball
While Dan O’Dowd has not been a member of a front office — has not attended the GM Meetings — in five years, he does recall what happened when he did attend. He stated that a lot of the meetings are centered around the future of the game:
“First of all, league matters are very important. They are talking about issues inside the game of baseball and the future of the game of baseball. It is really the only time of year where the GMs get to weigh in as a group. These meetings are incredibly important to our game.”
The Dodgers do not have an acting general manager, but Andrew Friedman will most likely be in attendance.
Laying Groundwork
The part of the GM Meetings that receive the most fanfare are the trade talks.
“You have done a lot of homework, so you follow up with the clubs you feel you match with and dig a little further into how you match up. Agents also go to GM Meetings so GMs are able to talk to them face-to-face about their clients.”
There is no doubt that Friedman is talking to other executives about trades and agents like Scott Boras about their clients.
Free Agent Delay
After we saw Manny Machado and Bryce Harper take months to sign, we collectively realized that free agency has changed in a big way. O’Dowd weighed in:
“GMs today are so value-driven that they really do not want to overspend on a player if they feel like there is a better deal to be made for a similar player somewhere down the line. So, they try to let the industry unfold a little bit before they go in. I don’t think that is a good strategy, because even if you save the money on the backend, are you really getting the player you really have identified fits your particular need.”
O’Dowd brings up a very interesting point because the Dodgers typically do this in free agency. They wait, they don’t pounce. This could be a different winter for Los Angeles, but we will see.
