Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings are upon us. Even as the march of technology makes such an in-person, face-to-face hootenanny seem quaint and even unnecessary, it's still the signature event of the sport's offseason calendar. Speaking of signatures, the expectation is that a number of premium free agents will put pen to paper during the festivities that get underway on Sunday in Nashville, or at least lay the foundation for doing so. And that's to say nothing of the blockbuster trades that might go down.

Music City welcomes the baseball world to town this week for the annual Winter Meetings, but which teams -- and which players -- will have something to sing about by the time everybody leaves the Gaylord Opryland Resort on Thursday?

The Giants could be in store for a big offseason as they look to field a more competitive team for the 2024 MLB season. After back-to-back disappointing campaigns, San Francisco enters perhaps one of the biggest offseasons in franchise history, and already has been connected to multiple top free agents, including two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. In just a matter of days, the Giants could be one of the most interesting teams in baseball. With the MLB Winter Meetings set to officially begin Monday at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, San Francisco awaits the decision of the biggest free agent in league history as president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and general manager Pete Putila navigate a busy offseason with plenty of moves to be made. Outside of a few transactions, the offseason has been rather quiet thus far, but that will change this week as the annual meetings never fail to deliver the fireworks.

Wenda Johnson will be entering into her fourth National Finals Rodeo at No. 7 in the WPRA Standings with just over $120,500 in earnings after competing in more rodeos this season than ever before.

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Syracuse, N.Y. — All season, we enlisted the help of area media professionals who cover high school sports to participate in a weekly football poll. Along with the poll, we asked our voters to predict each of the six championship games.

Seth Lugo will be a free agent, as he has declined his player option: https://t.co/3VVWqN68H2

On Tuesday night, the San Diego Padres' challenging season took a further hit as they were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals in extra innings. The game concluded with a final score of 6-5 at Busch Stadium, with Tommy Edman securing the victory for the Cardinals in the 10th inning with a walk-off single. This loss pushes the Padres' record down to 62-71 and continues to disrupt a season that began with aspirations of reaching the World Series. Currently, they are trailing a considerable 7.5 games behind the third and final wild card position in the National League.

The Dodgers didn't exactly enhance their talent level ahead of this week's trade deadline. However, they did enhance the depth of their roster. "From one to twenty-six," stated manager Dave Roberts on Friday afternoon, "this is the most extensive lineup we've had." During Friday night's 10-5 victory over the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers vividly illustrated his point. The effectiveness of the Dodgers' innovative platoon-oriented, option-abundant strategy was evident in the eighth inning, as they manufactured five runs to transform a 3-2 deficit into a 7-3 advantage. Their reinvigorated pitching staff made up for a brief outing by Bobby Miller, with five relievers covering 5⅓ innings to guide the team to its fourth consecutive triumph.

As the deadline day approaches, the Padres present an intriguing situation in the league. Following their recent loss to the Rockies, San Diego finds itself five games behind in the Wild Card race. According to a tweet from Buster Olney of ESPN on Monday afternoon, the Padres are actively assessing the market for potential additions to their outfield/designated hitter mix and bullpen. Meanwhile, Jon Heyman of the New York Post stated on Twitter that the Padres' asking price for Josh Hader in trade talks is so high that other teams believe they are likely to retain him beyond the deadline. Despite facing some challenges, the San Diego management has been clear about their preference to strengthen the team for a playoff push rather than dismantling it, especially after a bold offseason. This strategy seems to remain unchanged, and the recent sweep of the AL West-leading Rangers over the weekend may have given the front office the confidence to pursue acquisitions.