710 ESPN Seattle's Shannon Drayer
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E-mail thisI have received tons of questions about the off season so I am going to see if I can knock out a bunch of answers right here, right now.
First off...Hot Stove League Show fires up Wed. Nov 11 on 710 ESPN. I am very excited to announce that we will be going two hours from the get go (in the past we were one hour before the first of the year) and the show will be running on Wednesdays from 6-8. I am looking forward to doing the show ON A SPORTS STATION! Rick Rizzs will be joining me as well as many, many guests for two hours each week of baseball talk that will include you.
So, write it down. Wednesdays at 6:00! How about other dates to keep an eye on? Well here goes...
The Day after the final game of the World Series eligible players can file for free agency. Clubs have exclusive negotiating rights with their free agents in a window that lasts for fifteen days following the end of the World Series. After that, the free agent frenzy can officially begin.
General Manager Meetings will take place in the middle of this from Nov. 9-11 in Chicago. These meetings include the top executives from clubs and it is here where they often begin discussing trades. The meetings are not quite as high profile as the Baseball Winter Meetings which follow a month later.
December 1 is a day to keep an eye on. By that day clubs must offer salary arbitration to their free agents in order to receive draft pick compensation.
The Winter Meetings take place in Indianapolis Dec 7-10. It is here that the most work can get done in the shortest amount of time as everyone is in the same spot at the same time. Entire front offices, agents, managers, scouts and of course media will all converge in Indianapolis where anything can happen at any time. Or not. Sometimes there are deals o'plenty, other times we leave with the words, "We got a lot of good work done, the framework for further conversations is in place, we are in on several guys..." And of course we always hear, "There is no pressure to get anything done here. This is nothing more than an opportunity to meet and talk with everyone as they are all in one place." Regardless, things are going to happen. The Mariners have a roster to fill.
The final day of the meetings is the Rule 5 draft. A huge deadline looms two days later. December 12 is the day teams must offer arbitration to players who are eligible. Those who are not offered arbitration become free agents. Because of the economic situation in baseball right now, some are saying that we could see a record number of non tenders. This could make for a very active December and January, although baseball typically shuts down between Christmas and New Years.
Where can you find lists of potential free agents as well as player contract information? Check out Cot's Baseball Contracts. While not official information it has proven to be very accurate.
What about awards you ask?
November 10 AL Gold Gloves
November 11 NL Gold Gloves
November 12 Silver Sluggers
November 16 AL & NL Rookies of the Year
November 17 AL Cy Young
November 18 AL & NL Managers of the Year
November 19 NL Cy Young
November 23 AL MVP
November 24 NL MVP
Other awards have already been handed out. Of note (but no surprise no doubt) to Mariners fans, the Fielding Bible Awards with Franklin Gutierrez, Ichiro and Jack Wilson picking up the honors for their positions.
Also just announced, the Arizona Fall League Rising Stars team. Phillippe Aumont, Josh Fields and Dustin Ackley will represent the Mariners in the game which takes place Nov 7 and can be seen on the MLB Network as well as MLB.com
Hope this helps. Think I am going to set up the studio at 710 like a war room. The Mariners have a lot of work to do and this could be a very eventful off season.
One Seahawks note or observation before I go. They really need to work on their Belief Systems!
- Updated Mariners Roster Moves 11/20, 3:15 pm
- Rob Johnson Third Surgery a Success
- Greinke and Felix, The Difference
- Catching up and Moving Forward
- Wetteland Safe at Home
- Wetteland Hospitalized
- Griffey Back Is Felix Next?
- Go See Jamie and Joh Scouting the M's?
- And So It Begins
- Hot Stove Primer
- Greinke of Royals wins AL Cy Young, Felix in second
- Wilson & Mariners agree to $10 million, 2-yr deal
- Mariners keep Wilson in Seattle through 2011
- Wetteland at home after hospital trip
- Griffey stays with Mariners for 2010
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