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Dick Allen played seven seasons in Philadelphia, where he rose to prominence by hammering balls over the Coca-Cola sign and out of Connie Mack Stadium in batting practice. George Gojkovich/Getty Images
"My friends, these [negative] labels have kept Dick Allen out of the Hall of Fame," Schmidt said. "Imagine what Dick could've accomplished as a player in another era, on another team, left alone to hone his skills, to be confident, to come to the ballpark every day and just play baseball."

Orioles slugger Trey Mancini and outfielder Anthony Santander were offered 2021 contracts before Wednesday night's deadline. Mancini missed last season while receiving treatment for colon cancer. He batted .291 with 35 homers and 97 RBI in 2019.Minnesota Twins Face Coverings

Which team, in which year, made the all-time biggest winter meetings splash -- and how did it end up working out?
Schoenfield: Let's look at what Whitey Herzog did for the St. Louis Cardinals at the 1980 winter meetings. The Cardinals had been stuck in neutral for more than a decade and finished 74-88 in 1980. Hired as the club's GM in August, Herzog made himself the manager as well, then set out to remake the club. He signed Darrell Porter as a free agent, then made three big trades involving 23 players, trading away 12. He acquired two future Hall of Fame relievers (Bruce Sutter, Rollie Fingers) and then traded away Fingers and another Hall of Famer, Ted Simmons. The deals involved four All-Star catchers (Porter, Simmons, Gene Tenace, Terry Kennedy). He traded away a future Cy Young winner (Pete Vuckovich). In all, 11 of the 23 players accumulated at least 10 career WAR and most were still in their primes or early in their careers at the time. And that wasn't all. The following offseason, Herzog used two of the players acquired in 1980 (Sixto Lezcano and Lary Sorensen) to help acquire Ozzie Smith and Lonnie Smith. The Cardinals had the best record in the NL East in 1981 and won the World Series in 1982 -- and basically have been good ever since.MLB Face Coverings Online Sale

For Allen, a native of Western Pennsylvania who played on integrated baseball and basketball teams at Wampum High School, this was a new, and terrifying, experience. “When he went there, he was afraid to get off the plane,” Richard Allen told The Undefeated.Detroit Tigers Face Coverings

Joon Lee: Recency bias! The Chris Sale trade in 2016 from the Chicago White Sox to the Boston Red Sox is a move that had ramifications for the Red Sox franchise beyond the team's World Series title in 2018. Dave Dombrowski's decision to sign Sale to a massive extension (paired with the four-year, $68 million contact given to Nathan Eovaldi) eventually put the franchise in a financial position where it felt the need to trade Mookie Betts and David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers, which obviously played a big role in crowning the most recent World Series champion.Chicago White Sox Face Coverings

Jesse Rogers: In 1999, Johan Santana was a Rule 5 pick by the Marlins from the Astros, and then was dealt to the Minnesota Twins in a prearranged deal. Santana is regarded as the second-best Rule 5 pickup ever. (The Rule 5 draft wasn't done at the winter meetings when the Pirates selected Roberto Clemente from the Dodgers.) Getting a player of that caliber without giving up inventory is an executive's dream.

Well, in Orlando a couple of years ago, I found myself in line to get food behind Bill James. I'm not unlike many baseball writers and wanna-be analysts -- James has had and continues to have a profound impact on the way I think about the game. We also happen to have both been raised in the rural Midwest. I was introduced to him once years ago at a SABR event in Kansas City, but it was awkward and fleeting, so I knew he didn't recognize me. I followed him through the food line, which had to take at least 10 minutes. I encountered him again waiting for the elevator, then rode up the elevator with him for a few floors, just the two of us. I may have nodded at him at some point, but no words were exchanged.