Suiting Up

Gear up, it's to time take care of business.

9:50 AM EST takeoff time Sunday morning from Reagan National and everything is good to go. (that's right, I linked the airport) Two suits and threads for 5 days, including swim trunks for the sweetest pools in the world. Temperature says 65 and sunny so that's not so great for swimming, but nevertheless, I'm prepared for everything.

I'd like to share a couple email exchanges I had with a Rays employee the last couple of days. His latest reply back to me tonight had some sage advice:

"Try not to look like a job seeker if you do visit the Bellagio – i.e., don’t run around in a suit with your PBEO badge hanging out! Don’t accost GM’s; it’s not worth your time."

Don't accost GM's? I'm glad I'm not an agent.

He was quite candid in an earlier note during the week: (I was trying to understand how I could flag him down, having never seen him before)

"As for what I look like…well, as someone who has been in your shoes, I think I can say this without being too callous: that’s part of the challenge!"

As if I needed an additional challenge.

"Rays"ing Prospects In Brazil

I enjoy reading articles like this. Teams are always looking to expand their reach around the globe and it sounds like Tampa has made some inroads in Brazil. They are basically using the same formula most teams have used in other countries like the Dominican Republic and Venezuela: Build a beautiful state of the art facility, attract the best coaches around the game to the area, reach out to the community to build up interest in youth organizations, and then highly publicize the first official signing to the parent club.

Here's some more commentary about the deal from the East Windup Chronicle.

One of the key players in the deal is Gerry Hunsicker, who is Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Rays. I've had a few encounters with Mr. Hunsicker. First of all, like me, he's a Saint Joseph's grad, which makes him a super beast. But more importantly, in 2004 he came and spoke to one of my classes in school. Why, might you ask, would the (at the time) General Manager of the Houston Astros be speaking in an academic environment? Well, obviously the class was called the Business and Tradition of Baseball and Hunsicker was one of the many speakers my professor had arranged to visit us that semester.

My second encounter with Gerry came in March of 2006 down in Florida at Spring Training with my brother, AI. The photo above is AI pictured with Rays GM Andrew Friedman. You'll notice that Mr. Friedman has some bunny ears attached to his noggin. Who's fingers could those be? That would be a Mr. Gerry Hunsicker's.

At least someone is continuing this age old tradition.

Winter Meetings Preview

For those of you that are interested in a general overview of this event go here.

MLB.com has a preview article worth a looksie.

Most of the action will be going on at the Bellagio, which is where all of the MLB General Managers and their staffs are staying. I'm assuming many of the agents, media, and upper echelon execs are holing up there as well. It turns out that XM/Sirius Radio's MLB Home Plate will do a live broadcast inside the lobby of the Bellagio. I called them yesterday and found out they will be reporting from 10 AM EST to 6 PM EST. So too will ESPN's Baseball Tonight which will be airing a Hot Stove Special from the Bellagio Monday thru Thursday for one hour starting at 5 PM EST.

That's not all though.

The under-the-radar Winter Meetings will be taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Las Vegas Hilton. This stuff will get less attention in the media since it's mostly trade shows, work shops, and job fairs. Clearly not as sexy as the wheeling and dealing going on over at the Bellagio. A lot of the minor league people are over there.

As advertised on milb.com:

This is the 107th annual gathering of the baseball convention, a place where club owners, front office personnel, league officials, just about everyone from the business side of the game whether from the Major Leagues, the Minor Leagues or internationally, will gather in one spot.