Winter Meetings Day 1 Recap

Mandatory Credit: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

For all of the news that was fit to print over the past week, the 2013 MLB Winter Meetings started off with a long yawn on Monday.

The highlight of the day was the news that the Veteran’s Committee had elected to sent former skipper Tony LaRussa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre to the Hall of Fame.

As for news regarding the Mariners? There really was little coming out of Orlando. First, GM Jack Zduriencik issued a statement regarding this weekend’s report in the Seattle Times that things have been dysfunctional at the top of the organization.

Then there was the report via Twitter that Nelson Cruz had declined a 5-year $75 million offer from the Mariners. Not sure how much there is to that considering he was holding out for a 3rd year from Texas. Why not take five if it was offered?

The news that should make most M’s fans smile today was this:

#mariners people dont want to include walker or paxton, & would rather build Price offer around position guys.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2013

Even Jackie Z chimed in on it saying:

"“I expect him (Taijuan Walker) to be with us.”– Jack Zduriencik"

Let Mariners nation rejoice. It seems that all of your tweets and prayers have been answered. Who knows however, when push comes to shove if Walker will be here or not? But for now, it sounds promising.

Finally, there was this nugget regarding Jack Z’s priorities when it comes to finding a closer.

Zduriencik on bullpen: "The available dollars to go elsewhere, I think we would look at adding a legitimate closer as a lower priority."
— Bob Dutton (@ByBobDutton) December 10, 2013

So there you have it. A whole lot of speculation and a whole lot of nothing. But it was only the first day. Be sure to check back tomorrow as we post live updates as things happen (or don’t) for the Mariners.

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