Owners meetings, MLB winter meetings now remote experiences due to pandemic

The Major League Baseball season ended when the Los Angeles Dodgers toppled the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, but the worsening COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the league's schedule of events 

MLB confirmed on Friday that the owners meetings scheduled for Nov. 17-19 in Arlington and winter meetings scheduled for Dec. 7-10 in Dallas have been canceled because of the health crisis. Instead, those events will be "conducted remotely as necessary," according to the league. 

These meetings often produce the biggest days and transactions of the "hot stove" portion of the baseball calendar, as significant free-agent deals and trades involving star players are routinely discussed among executives in casual settings. 

As Mike Axisa wrote for CBS Sports, New York Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon and Washington Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg all put pen to paper on deals during last year's winter meetings. 

Both Axisa and Jesse Rogers of ESPN noted that the winter meetings bring major-league and minor-league executives together in one place. Minor League Baseball canceled seasons because of the health crisis in late June. 

Free agency is set to begin Sunday, and it's been rumored that teams won't spend as they would have in previous years due to financial hits caused by franchises holding home games without fans in attendance. As coronavirus cases increase throughout the country, it's unknown if spring training sessions or the 2021 season will begin on time.