Talk Radio Paradise

[BessLineberger]

But one thing never changes: the number of rumors you hear, some of them ridiculous. A few years ago at the winter meetings, my duty one day was to walk through the lobby and report back with the most outrageous rumor I heard. One team executive, not a GM, much lower on the chain, cupped his mouth like a pitcher talking to his catcher in a mound meeting, then warned me about an available free agent.

Tim Kurkjian: The biggest trade I ever covered at the winter meetings came on Dec. 5, 1990, at the meetings outside of Chicago. The Toronto Blue Jays sent first baseman Fred McGriff and shortstop Tony Fernandez to the San Diego Padres for second baseman Roberto Alomar and outfielder Joe Carter. McGriff had hit 105 home runs in his previous three seasons combined; someday he might be a Hall of Famer. Fernandez had made the All-Star team in three of his previous four seasons, an excellent player in his prime. Carter had averaged nearly 30 homers a year for the previous four seasons; he, of course, hit the walk-off home run to win the 1993 World Series for the Blue Jays. Alomar was the best player on two World Series championship teams (1992 and 1993) in Toronto and would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The day of the trade, some in the media called it the Fred McGriff trade, the Joe Carter trade, the Tony Fernandez trade. Blue Jays general manager Pat Gillick whispered to me late that night, "This will always be known as the Roberto Alomar trade.''Colorado Rockies Face Masks

Kurkjian: My favorite quote from any winter meetings came in 1982. The lowly Rangers, the team I covered for The Dallas Morning News, had gone to the meetings with big hopes of making several major trades or signings, all of them necessary. Instead, all they came home with was reliever Odell Jones in the Rule 5 draft. I asked how the team was going to explain the disappointing meetings to its fans. Assistant GM Paul Richards, a venerable baseball man, said, "Well, we're going to have to sell the s--- out of Odell Jones.''

Joon Lee: Recency bias! The Chris Sale trade in 2016 from the Chicago White Sox to the Boston Red Sox is a move that had ramifications for the Red Sox franchise beyond the team's World Series title in 2018. Dave Dombrowski's decision to sign Sale to a massive extension (paired with the four-year, $68 million contact given to Nathan Eovaldi) eventually put the franchise in a financial position where it felt the need to trade Mookie Betts and David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers, which obviously played a big role in crowning the most recent World Series champion.Cleveland Indians Face Masks

This has been a tough year for everybody, with plenty to make us angry, sad, worried, and more. It’s important to be able to stop and have a laugh, and it’s nice to see a light moment out of A’s Summer Camp during a tense time. The real question is: Given that we all need to wear masks for the foreseeable future, would you rock this one?Texas Rangers Face Masks

Allen has never publicized his generosity, nor has he ever lobbied for inclusion in the Hall. (Allen declined to be interviewed for this article.) His refusal to “play ball” – to engage with the sports press – is evident in the Hall votes. In his first year of eligibility in 1983, writers gave him only 3.7% of the vote, a figure so low he actually dropped off the ballot. Even after being added back to the ballot in 1985, after the Baseball Writers’ Association of America decided to give 11 players a second look, Allen still struggled to get votes. In his 14 years on the association’s ballot, he topped out at 18.9% — with 75% needed for induction. In his five previous chances before the Veterans Committee — which evaluates players who may have been overlooked — he never got more than 16% of the vote until 2014, when he fell that one vote short.

Gonzalez: When the Cubs signed Jon Lester in 2015, largely because of what it meant -- that the "Lovable Losers" were suddenly a force. The Cubs were a last-place team in 2014, but Joe Maddon had arrived, Kris Bryant was on his way and Jake Arrieta had emerged. There was a sense heading into those meetings that the Cubs might do something significant. Then they signed Lester to a whopping six-year, $155 million contract -- topping the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers for his services -- and proved they were serious. Word spread through downtown San Diego late on a Tuesday night. I was returning from dinner in the Gaslamp Quarter. And walking directly in front of me was Maddon, who was on his way to see Theo Epstein. He was, as you might expect, beaming.Pittsburgh Pirates Face Masks