Our MLB editor files dispatches from this year's Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.Baseball fans know what the Winter Meetings are. They know what happens every year -- trades, big signings, and plenty of gossip in the lobby of a grand hotel. What they might not have an idea about is what the atmosphere is like inside the Bellagio.
(Full disclosure: This is my first trip to the Winter Meetings, and, frankly, it was a little bit terrifying flying out here. I had absolutely no idea what to expect.)
Let's start with the city. Las Vegas seemed a bit deflated when I arrived Sunday night -- a perfectly understandable feel considering the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight was the night before. The Winter Meetings are a nice distraction, but Vegas seems to love big prizefights more than anything else.
Still, if my conversation with the cab driver who took me from the airport to my hotel is any indication, the denizens of Sin City seem virtually oblivious to the baseball invasion. He had no idea what the Winter Meetings were or that they were taking place in Las Vegas, but he had plenty to say about the National Finals Rodeo, which are taking place through the end of this week at the Thomas and Mack Center. Go figure.
