Starting yesterday, the JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort became the hub of the baseball world, with media, players, agents, and most importantly, front office executives all heading to be part of the marquee event of the offseason.

The MLB Winter Meetings are a four-day series of events, ranging from the Contemporary Baseball Committee Hall of Fame vote to the MLB Draft Lottery and the Rule 5 Draft.

However, what really defines the Winter Meetings is transactions and the buzz they create. There is something palpable about when a big signing takes place, and suddenly everyone in the hotel is talking about the same thing.

There can just be that extra electricity in the air, and sometimes that can help spark the next move.

Here at Just Baseball, we have been preparing for the Winter Meetings for weeks now, with a series of articles breaking down all the top free agents and trends in the market.

We have some writers on the scene in Orlando, and we will be keeping you up to date with flash newsletters any time a really big story drops.

Let’s go through a rundown of everything you need to know, so you are prepared for all of the drama that could unfold this week.

Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Votes Jeff Kent Into the Hall of Fame

Last night, things kicked off with a Hall of Fame vote. A 16-member committee discussed the candidates on the Contemporary Baseball Era Hall of Fame ballot and cast their votes to see if anyone new was heading to Cooperstown.

Just like on the BBWAA HOF ballot, a player must receive at least 75% of the vote to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

In this case, that means receiving the support of at least 12 of the 16 committee members. Each member of the committee got to vote for three players.

These were the eight players under consideration this year:

• Barry Bonds

• Roger Clemens

• Carlos Delgado

• Jeff Kent

• Don Mattingly

• Dale Murphy

• Gary Sheffield

• Fernando Valenzuela

Of those eight players, Jeff Kent was the only one to receive the 12 votes required for induction. Carlos Delgado was the closest miss, getting nine of 16 votes, while Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy each got six votes.

The rest of the Hall of Fame hopefuls did not even get halfway there, all receiving fewer than five votes. This means that each of them will be ineligible for another ballot until the 2031-2032 voting cycle.

Latest Buzz on the Hot Stove From ESPN’s Buster Olney

Over the weekend, ESPN’s Buster Olney joined the Just Baseball Show, giving us the insight of an MLB insider on where the market is heading into free agency.

Some of the biggest things we learned are that the trade market is percolating more than free agency right now, and there is still a chance we see two-time reigning Cy Young Tarik Skubal traded.

More likely names to move include Nationals All-Star MacKenzie Gore, Sandy Alcantara or Edward Cabrera. Although nobody is ruling out seeing Freddy Peralta get moved either.

Kyle Schwarber was described as “the linchpin of the market” for position players, so his signing could send shockwaves through free agency.

If you want to hear more about the latest buzz in free agency, and the trade market, we encourage you to watch the full interview with Olney, or read our recap on all the major talking points.

When Is the 2026 MLB Draft Lottery?

As of 2023, the order of the top six picks in the MLB draft is determined by a lottery. The 2026 MLB Draft lottery will take place at the Winter Meetings on Tuesday, December 9.

2026 Draft Lottery Odds

Teams that make the postseason are not eligible to receive a top-six pick in the following year's draft. Of the 18 non-postseason teams from the 2025 season, 15 will participate in the draft lottery.

The Rockies, Nationals, and Angels are ineligible. Colorado received lottery picks in each of the past two drafts, and no team is allowed to have a lottery pick in more than two consecutive seasons. Washington and L.A. received lottery picks last summer, and as bigger-market clubs that pay into revenue sharing, they are not allowed to have lottery picks in consecutive seasons.

Here are the odds of each eligible team receiving the first overall pick in next summer's draft, per MLB.com:

• White Sox – 27.73%

• Twins – 22.18%

• Pirates – 16.81%

• Orioles – 9.24%

• Athletics – 6.55%

• Braves – 4.54%

• Rays – 3.03%

• Cardinals – 2.35%

• Marlins – 1.85%

• Diamondbacks – 1.51%

• Rangers – 1.34%

• Giants – 1.01%

• Royals – 0.84%

• Mets – 0.67%

• Astros – 0.34%

When Is the Rule 5 Draft?

The Rule 5 Draft provides an opportunity for minor league players who have not yet earned a spot on their club's 40-man roster to earn a major league opportunity in a new organization.

Teams with open 40-man spots can draft eligible, unprotected players from other teams, but to keep them, they must add those players to their 40-man roster immediately and keep them on their 26-man roster throughout the upcoming season.

This year's Rule 5 Draft will take place on Wednesday, December 10 as the final event of the Winter Meetings.

Just Baseball Trivia of the Week

Our newsletter will have a trivia question every week to test and expand the baseball knowledge of our subscribers! The answer to the weekly trivia question will be at the bottom of the newsletter each week.

Which active player who was once a Rule 5 selection has the highest career fWAR?

A) Brad Keller

B) Anthony Santander

C) Mark Canha

D) Ryan Pressly

Free Agent Predictions

All offseason, we have had our list up of the top 20 free agents in baseball, where we include a team and contract prediction for each player. As players get signed, we update the board of the top 20 remaining, adding new players with new predictions upon each update.

We also just came out with a new prediction series, where our editorial team sat down and made one bold prediction for a realistic move that each team could make this offseason that would make them better in 2026.

Top 21 Free Agent Contracts and Team Predictions

The top free agent board got an update on Friday, as we accounted for Devin Williams signing a three-year, $51 million deal with the New York Mets and Dylan Cease signing a $210 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

We removed two from the board and added three. Bringing our total of top remaining free agents to 21, with the additions of Robert Suarez, Jorge Polanco, and Ryan O’Hearn.

Click here to read about the new predictions.

Predicting Each Team’s Best Offseason Move

Inspired by MLB Network’s Mark Feinsand, we’ve started putting together a mini-series of posts where we predict each team’s best addition of the offseason. As part of this exercise, every player can only be picked once, and nobody’s allowed to return to their 2025 team.

To this point, we’ve ran through the NL Central, NL East, and NL West.

We’ve got Kyle Schwarber staying in the National League, but he’s heading home and landing in the Central.

Freddy Peralta on the move? We’ve got that as well, and he’s heading to the East. We’re keeping Pete Alonso in the East as well, but remember there are no reunions allowed, so Mets fans beware…

Over in the West, the rich get richer as the Dodgers aggressively pursue a new look at the back end of their bullpen.

Just Baseball Discord

We launched a Just Baseball community on Discord!

Our Discord channel is the ultimate baseball group chat while also providing exclusive access to Peter’s MLB best bets, Aram’s prospect content, giveaways, and direct connection to the entire Just Baseball staff.

Read all the details about our Discord community here.

Trivia Answer: C) Mark Canha

Canha leads the way here, with 14.8 fWAR in a career that dates back to 2015. After a dreadful 2025 campaign that saw him post a 49 wRC+ and -0.7 fWAR in 46 games with the Kansas City Royals, he may not have many more chances to add to this before he hangs it up.

Pressly (11.3) came in second, while Keller (8.8) and Santander (8.4) rounded out the group.

Just Baseball Merch

Our newest merchandise features retro logos, tv-inspired designs, and the anti wave social club!

We have also restocked on all your favorites including our vintage World Series line, hats, hoodies, City Series line, spring line, and much more.

Check out the full collection of Just Baseball swag here!