The Major League Baseball Winter Meetings begin Monday in Dallas, and the MLB Network will be there in full force with more than 15 hours of live coverage starting Sunday at 8 p.m. with a special edition of “Hot Stove Live.” Just before he left for Dallas, studio host Greg Amsinger discussed what it’s like to cover the Winter Meetings.
What do you expect to go on in Dallas?
Amsinger » “In recent years, the winter meetings have really been busy: top name free agents have been signed, there have been big trades, and in short, there has been a great deal of action. I expect that we will be following where Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder will be going. On the pitching side, it will be C.J. Wilson, Roy Oswalt and Mark Buehrle who we will be watching.”
How do you cover something where most everything is done in secret?
Amsinger » “That is the fun part. We have [Jon] Heyman, [Ken] Rosenthal, [Tom] Verducci and [Peter] Gammons all working the phones at times even when we are on set. They are able to connect the dots and see what is going to happen in most cases before it happens. … Rumors are the best part of the Hot Stove, but we will separate fact from fiction.”
Will the Nationals be players at the meetings?
Amsinger » “We will be following the Nationals very closely throughout the week in Dallas. Most of our experts, myself included, really think that with the Lerner family and GM Mike Rizzo’s relationship with Scott Boras, that Prince Fielder will end up in Washington. Look, we know the Nationals have established themselves as players in free agency and they want to be a contender. If Washington does sign Fielder, they become a contender the moment the ink dries on the contract. But if they don’t choose to sign Fielder, we fully expect them to make noise and sign someone that will help make the team better because they are only a player or two away from being a winning franchise.”
Examiner columnist Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this!
