From Minor League Baseball to the Baseball Family Party

It’s hard to believe it’s been two weeks since I got back from the Winter Meetings. Last Wednesday as I was finishing up my work day, I noticed it was almost exactly a week earlier that I headed to the airport in Orlando to make my way home.

In a way, I’m glad there’s been that much time since the meetings. Hopefully plenty of job seekers have been given offers from the PBEO Job Fair, or at least have had contact with their future employers. I remember just how depressed so many people looked by the end of it. When I left the Swan and Dolphin Resort, the Swan Lobby and Job Fair Rooms were almost empty. The few people left over looked like they passed out with their eyes open and had no energy left, whether it was because they didn’t sleep all week, or didn’t end up with any job leads.

Luckily there was an escape down a short walkway. The Dolphin was still bustling with people, namely employed ones either with a media organization or major league club. After all, the MLB side of the meetings lasted another day plus. There were a handful of job seekers star-gazing, watching big names step up to the MLB Network set and share their insight. I know the adventurous shakes I ordered from the dessert place right next door gave me a little extra pep, and it seemed like the people in this hotel had that extra something too. If only everyone knew that it felt better to be on this side, even if it wouldn’t be all that productive. No one lounging on a couch would have been either.

It was amazing to see how different the attitude was from one building to the next, when everyone was under the affiliated baseball umbrella. Although I didn’t end up with a job myself after the meetings, I was lucky enough to see that not all hope was lost. There are more moves to be made, and in addition, who knows what opportunities will bubble up outside of Minor League Baseball. For their own respective sakes, I’m pulling for the job seekers to have turned their attitude around, either by spending time with their families around the holidays, getting a gig in minor league ball, or both. Cheer up, because after the first of the year things will change, especially in our industry. I’m not all-knowing and I don’t have an entourage, but my “people” say there will be some new openings later in the off-season.

Happy (belated) Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Boxing Day, Happy Winter, and Merry Happy everyone. (Bonus points for those of you who know where the last one comes from.)

As always, thanks for reading. I’d love to hear about your Winter Meetings experience if you’ve ever gone. If there’s anything I can do to help you out, just let me know. This time of year can be tough for a lot of people out there.

Best,

Nick