Top 5 Things to Look Forward to During the 2024 Winter Meetings  

'Tis the season—and it's not just Christmas Season, where the BullStreet playground, Segra Park, is decked out with 1.7 million LED lights and playing everyone's favorite Christmas music each night. It's also the most wonderful time of the year because Winter Meetings officially begin today! This year Dallas is the stomping grounds of each Major League team's executives and a handful of representatives from each Minor League Team as the industry hosts summits, trade shows and talks shop about what 2025 will look like.

Of course, most of that happens behind the scenes. Meanwhile, on the sets of ESPN, YES and MLB Network, they're talking about various things that are changing the game's landscape for next year. There are rule changes—like the placed runner in extra innings or the pitch clock installed in recent years, trades and much more happening in one of the sport's busiest weeks each year.

What can we look forward to this year at Major League Baseball's annual Winter Meetings? A lot is shaking around the baseball world, but these are the five things that a Fireflies fan will be most interested to see at this year's Winter Meetings:

5.) The Golden At-Bat Rule? To be clear- this isn't a list of the most popular things happening at Winter Meetings. This is merely a list of the most interesting developments that will be hashed out at Winter Meetings this year. This one surfaced last week, but Commissioner Manfred spoke on The Varsity Podcast about the potential new rule. For those unfamiliar with The Golden At-Bat, this rule comes directly from the Savannah Bananas' summer playbook. Essentially—at least, in Banana Ball—the rule allows any team to pinch-hit any batter in any slot once per game. You're down one in the bottom of the eighth with runners at second and third with your eight-hole hitter up? No worries, The Royals can slot in Bobby Witt Jr. or the Yankees could pen Aaron Judge here and The Mets will be able to push Juan Soto into that clutch situation. Is the rule confirmed for the 2025 season? No. Will teams discuss it? Maybe. Has the media already run with the story? Yes. It would be cool to give extra at-bats to 2024 Fireflies Austin Charles and Blake Mitchell during clutch time at Segra Park next year!

4.) Will Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Sign an extension with Toronto? Would they trade him? Six years ago, the baseball world was buzzing about the next group of big-name prospects, headlined by none other than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto's future was bright, with two legacy prospects in the top 15 MLB prospects as Vlad partnered with Bo Bichette. Fernando Tatis Jr. was neck-and-neck with Guerrero Jr. as the top guy for the 2019 class. Where are they all now? Fernando Tatis Jr. inked a 14-year, $340 million contract that expires in 2035. He has since been suspended and had a major off-field injury. Considering that Tatis is still an All-Star caliber player who has not yet reached his ceiling. Bo Bichette was a hot name on the trade rumor wires last year, coming off an All-Star 2023 season where he hit .306 with 20 round-trippers. But last year, in his second year of a three-year team-friendly extension, his production fell off the map. Bichette hit .225 with only four homers in 81 games for the Blue Jays. This leads us to the player who has had the best career of that trio up to this point. Guerrero has a career .288 batting average and has averaged more than 30 homers a season for the last four seasons as he enters the prime of his career set for free agency. One thing is certain: if the Blue Jays want to keep him in the north, they'll need to set a new franchise record for most guaranteed money. That mark currently belongs to George Springer at $150 million. And if Toronto can't resign him… Just imagine the blockbuster trade it would take to pry him from the Blue Jays. When Francisco Lindor was traded in 2021, Cleveland received Major League-ready infielder and former Columbia Fireflies player Andres Gimenez along with veteran Amed Rosario and prospects Josh Wolf and Isaiah Greene. Gimenez was a shortstop for the Fireflies in 2017 where he hit .265 over 92 games. The next year he was named an MiLB Organizational All-Star and was selected to represent the Mets in the Futures Game. Since then? He's won three Gold Gloves, a Platinum Glove and was named to the 2022 AL All-Star Team. What type of prospects could Toronto reel in? Would the Royals be able to swing a trade for him or would it have to be a big market team? Vlad Jr. could set the benchmark for the highest-paid first baseman. The last crop of major first baseman extensions belonged to Albert Pujols ($254 million over 10 years), Miguel Cabrera ($248 million over eight years) and Joey Votto ($225 million over 10 years) but those are contracts of yesteryear. IF—and it is a big IF the Blue Jays resign Vlad this offseason, it should look closer to the dollar amounts of Bryce Harper ($330 million over 13 years) or Francisco Lindor ($341 million over 10 years).

3.) The 2024 Trade Market is ready to explode! This is the time of year when some crazy names start to circulate and a couple of them typically come true. Are the Red Sox going to deal Triston Casas? What type of package would it take to move Luis Castillo out of Seattle? At the deadline, the big name was: Garrett Crochet. Is the Southpaw going to move to add to Chicago's stockpile of minor-league talent? After the Guardians resigned Shane Bieber, are Lane Thomas and Josh Naylor locked to be in Cleveland for the 2024 season? With Kyle Manzardo and Chase Delauter waiting for their chance it's plausible you hear Naylor's name in trade rumors this year. A few other vets to consider are RHP Devin Williams, who is entering his final arbitration year and Yandy Diaz who is also in the final year of his contract with Tampa Bay. The Royals have already swung their first trade of the 2024 offseason. Kansas City flipped rotational righty Brady Singer for a bonified lead-off bat in Jonathan India and outfielder Joey Weimer. After the Royals huge 2024 step towards contention, they could swing another trade or two to bolster the bullpen for 2025 as they contend for an AL Central title and another playoff berth

2.) Who is Roki Sasaki and where will he play in 2025? Roki Sasaki was posted as a Major League Free Agent by his team, The Chiba Lotte Marines. Sasaki is 23, meaning he will be an International Free Agent. A few members of the 2024 Fireflies who were international free agents include Daniel Vazquez, Lizandro Rodriguez, Hyungchan Um, Jarold Rosado and Julio Rosario—just to name a few. The 2024 signing period ends Sunday, so teams have six more days to try to sign him using their 2024 pool. If not, the 2025 signing period begins on January 15. The 30 different Major League International Signing Pools range from $5.1 million to $7.6 million. Eight teams have their maximum amount, the Giants and the Dodgers have the lowest amount remaining and the Royals have $6.9 million remaining in their pool. There will be plenty of posturing for the flame thrower, who has hit 102 MPH in games and finished last year with a 2.35 ERA in 18 starts with 129 punchouts in 111 innings. What most fans will recognize him from though, was helping Japan win the World Baseball Classic in 2023—when he was 21. The Royals already have a great rotation with Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha leading the way, but the adage goes, "A team can never have enough pitching." If the Royals used their pool money to sign Sasaki and promoted him quickly to Omaha or the Major League rotation, how would that impact the next year or two of Fireflies International prospects? Truthfully, it might not change the plans as much as you think. Daniel Vazquez and Lizandro Rodriguez have manned the middle infield for the better part of three years for Columbia and Yandel Ricardo and Jhonaker Ugarte are both in the Arizona Complex League as the next infielders ready. Ramon Ramirez is another big-name International prospect and catcher the Royals could promote to Columbia as early as 2024. Maybe outfielder Asbel Gonzalez will join Erick Torres or Erick Pena in the Fireflies outfield in 2024. But it seems Kansas City's system could be well-equipped to take a high-ceiling, high-floor move in this signing period for a controllable talent.

1.) Who's the next big Rule 5 draftee? It's the draft of second chances and a unique part of baseball that has become a wonderful tradition. Dan Uggla made waves after he was named an All-Star in 2006 when the Florida Marlins selected him from Arizona in the Rule 5 Draft. The infielder would go on to become a three-time All-Star and a Silver Slugger Award winner before he retired after a 10-year career. More recently, you may recognize Akil Badoo, Ji-Man Choi and Anthony Santander who were all big Rule 5 names. The Royals even touted a Rule 5 guy on their roster just one year ago. Brad Keller went from the Diamondbacks to the Reds in 2017. He never played a game for Cincinnati, because the Royals traded for him and added him to their rotation for the next handful of years. Who could the next big name be? Last year, former Fireflies pitcher Luis De Avila was selected. Kevin Made, who played for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans for multiple seasons was selected recently as well. Which former Fireflies could be selected and moved to new teams? It's no secret that the Royals have a system with some amazing catching depth. Salvador Perez sits atop the throne, but beyond that, the Royals have Luca Tresh, Kale Emshoff, Carter Jensen, Blake Mitchell, Hyungchan Um and Ramon Ramirez in their system. All of these catchers are talented enough to be catcher one on whatever Minor League team they play on and they are talented enough to climb the rung to the bigs one day. Tresh is currently unprotected and available to be selected in the Rule 5 draft—will another team take the chance and send him to the bigs?