Opinion

On the ground at the winter meetings in unseasonably cold Orlando, Fla., there has been quite a bit of action already.

Actually, in much colder Boston, the Adrian Gonzalez trade is currently off, as the slugging first baseman and the Boston Red Sox could not agree on an extension. They had a window until 2 p.m. today, and while the Red Sox were willing to given Gonzalez a six-year extension, the player wanted eight years and "Mark Teixeira money."

Tomorrow will begin an extremely important event for the baseball community, the Baseball Winter Meetings.

All eyes will be on Orlando, Florida at the Swan and Dolphin Resort in Walt Disney World as the meetings will take place from December 6 until December 9 (Monday until Thursday.)

Representatives from all 30 teams will be down in Florida, along with minor league baseball representatives and officials from the Major League Baseball offices as well.

2011 marks another Hall of Fame ballot featuring one of the MLB’s most villainous characters:  Rafael Palmeiro. 

Palmeiro can be remembered for three things:

Now that Derek Jeter is officially back where he belongs, we can look ahead to next season. Of course there is still a lot of decisions to be made, but Jeter is no longer one of them.

Last season, Jeter had the worst statistical season of his career. He hit just .270 with 10 homers and 67 RBI. His on base percentage was .340, 45 points lower than his career average of .385.

For the last couple of days, I have been doing a lot of writing about the loss of Adam Dunn and how that affects the Washington Nationals.

I've been comparing Dunn's offensive capabilities against two of his most likely replacements, Carlos Pena and Adam LaRoche, and have come to the conclusion that even those two might be more than the Nationals need in 2011.

With the announcement today that Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees have finally agreed on a new contract, the Yankees can turn their attention to their big offseason target—Cliff Lee.

There was never any doubt that Jeter would be returning to the Bronx, despite harsh statements from both sides and the Yankees' decision not to offer Jeter arbitration.

Courtesy of Yankees 'n More

Everybody knows the New York Yankees have their hearts set on adding lefty ace Cliff Lee this offseason, perhaps as early as the winter meetings next week. Of late, however, there has been a lot of talk about the interest being shown by the Bronx Bombers in free agent outfielder Carl Crawford.

What if you broke into the hotel room of Adrian Gonzalez, looked through his things, and found a diary? What would it say? Here is a possible answer:

June 2000

Before the Winter Meetings begin next week in Florida, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told the New York Post this week that the team would be bringing back players to bolster their lineup for next season, but he was quick to caution fans.

"I will guarantee you we will come back with some new players," Alderson said. "I can't guarantee you how high-profiile they will be."

Adrian Gonzalez can now be called a "former San Diego Padre."

Late last night, rumors were on fire that the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox were close to a deal that would send Gonzalez to the Northeast. I wanted to see if this was more than talk, seeing as we went through this same kind of thing this time last year.