The baseball world is about to descend on National Harbor in Maryland, as MLB‘s 2016 winter meetings are set to kick off on Monday. And things are sure to be rather interesting.
That’s not to say that it hasn’t been an interesting offseason thus far. But with names like Chris Archer, Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Encarnacion, Andrew McCutchen and Chris Sale all making the rounds on the rumor mill, it’s easy to believe that the baseball world is about to be turned upside down.
While the winter meetings often serve as the place that future deals are born, it’d be shocking if there weren’t a few notable transactions completed while the baseball universe takes over the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.
Will Encarnacion sign? Is McCutchen going to be traded? Who, among Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon, will be the first of the elite closers to come off the market?
What follows are five impact deals that we believe will be pulled off during baseball’s annual gathering, some of them providing answers to the questions above.