Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings, in which officials from each club and players' representatives gather to negotiate transfers, began on the 4th. While watching the movements of Shohei Ohtani, who is an FA = free agent from the Angels, the transfer market has already begun to move, such as the conclusion of trades and the announcement of large contracts.
Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings are a gathering of managers, general managers, and player representatives from all 30 clubs to negotiate transfers for the next season.
It is held every year in December, and is held for four days from the 12th to the 4th at a resort hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.
Among the press conferences held on the first day of each team's coaches, the press conference of the new Angels manager Washington was particularly attended by Ohtani, who will have a major impact on the team's formation for next season.
However, when asked how much he was aware of Ohtani, Coach Washington replied, "I don't want to reveal anything yet, so I don't have anything to say about him," and he remained cautious until the end and did not mention Ohtani.
At this point, there has been no specific announcement from Ohtani's side, but the media and officials of each team are interested in Ohtani's movements that will affect the entire transfer market, as the US media reported that he has received multiple offers totaling 7 million dollars, or well over 4.5 billion yen in Japan yen.
Meanwhile, the transfer market is already in motion, with the Mariners and Braves finalizing a five-player trade and the Brewers announcing a massive eight-year, $734 million contract for a 5-year-old young player who is not yet making his big league debut.
Angels GM: "We have to have a plan ABCD"
In addition to so-called "official events" set by the MLB organization, such as managers' press conferences, informal opportunities for reporters and others in charge of each team may be set up at the Winter Meetings.
On the 4th, Angels General Manager Minassian gathered reporters in his hotel room and interviewed them for about 40 minutes.
"From the moment we opened the door to this room, we all wanted to win, we have to do something and we are already talking to various teams about a lot of players," said General Manager Minassian, stressing that the team is actively working to strengthen the squad for next season.
Regarding Ohtani's departure, he maintained his stance that he would not talk about any particular player, but added, "We have spent a lot of time thinking about a thousand different scenarios, so we have to fit in every case. We have to have a plan A, a plan B, a plan C, and a plan D," he said, adding that he was also thinking about how to assemble a team if Ohtani decides to move to another team.