With Winter Meetings approaching, Nats won't force moves

Two days from now, I'll be hopping a plane to San Diego, ready for a few days of chaos at the hub of the baseball world - the annual Winter Meetings. Team executives, agents, scouts, trainers, anyone involved in the inner workings of Major League Baseball will be there, making this the most anticipated four days in the offseason. TV networks will have massive sets erected in the hallways, ready to go live with breaking news, radio shows will be going on nonstop as rumors are discussed and websites (such as this one) will update all the happenings around the teams that they cover. Teams will discuss free agents with the players' various representatives, general managers will secretly meet to discuss potential trades, and reporters will hang around in the lobby, trying to piece together what's true and what's not, with the battery life on their phones quickly draining with each call, text or scroll through Twitter. It's a sight to see, all right. And believe me, the fact that it's being held in San Diego will matter next to nothing for all of the reporters there. I've now been to the last five Winter Meetings, and there have legitimately been trips where I haven't been outside the hotel for more than 10 minutes the entire time. There are most certainly teams out there who go into the Winter Meetings feeling like they need to make a splash, that they need to show their fan base that they're dedicated to winning and aren't afraid to throw around some money, or make a big trade to try and improve the ballclub. Some organizations see the Winter Meetings as a showcase, an opportunity to make big news on the offseason's biggest stage. Club personnel will bounce around from the MLB Network set to the ESPN set to the giant podium in the media workroom, reveling in the chance to talk about their latest move in front of the bright lights and with everyone watching. The Nationals are not one of these teams. General manager Mike Rizzo will approach these Winter Meetings the way that he always does. He's going to look for ways to improve his ballclub, holding meetings with agents and kicking around trade proposals. He's going to do his due diligence on players, get a feel for where the market stands, and see if he can find the right fit with a certain player. But if the right move isn't there to be made just yet, Rizzo will surely board his plane on Thursday content that he did all he could do in San Diego, and he'll get back to work as soon as he lands in D.C. Part of this, at least this year, is due to the fact that the Nationals have the vast majority of the roster already in place for 2015. Their only real need, per se, is a second baseman (or third baseman, which could move Anthony Rendon back to second base). Improving depth in the bullpen and on the bench is also a goal of Rizzo's, but those types of moves can be made through minor league deals and various smaller moves. Rizzo doesn't need to go find a top-line starter. He doesn't have to get a middle-of-the-order bat. And that will allow him to go into this particular Winter Meetings without feeling pressure to land one of the big fish. But really, from year to year, the Nats have always taken the approach that they won't force anything at the Winter Meetings just to make headlines or appease the fan base. They'll do what's right for the organization, even if that means walking out of the Winter Meetings without having made a significant deal. There is definitely pressure on team executives at the Winter Meetings because of how much attention has been put on this event over the years. But Rizzo seems to largely ignore that pressure from year to year. He will hold plenty of meetings and do lots of talking to lots of agents and team executives during his time in San Diego. If there's a deal to be made, great. If not, that deal might happen the week after the Winter Meetings. Makes no difference to Rizzo.