By Luke Melms
Each year the Baseball Winter Meetings allows for teams and players to get deals done putting themselves in the best position heading into the upcoming season. As always, many players find themselves taking their talent to new cities.
Every offseason baseball players prepare themselves for a new season to embark on the journey of winning a World Series. What were your aspirations as 2016 wrapped up and felt the New Year providing new potential? Hopefully you’re happy with what you have accomplished in 2017 so far. Maybe you feel stuck or are just slightly unsatisfied though. If you want 2017 to provide a different result in some way, what changes are you going to make that will lead to being in a different place by the end of the year?
I had the chance to speak briefly with one of the greatest hitters of all time, Hall of Famer and Twins manager Paul Molitor at the 2016 Winter Meetings. It was during the 1992 Winter Meetings that he signed a three year contract to play in Toronto after spending the first 15 years of his career in Milwaukee. The Blue Jays were very aggressive once he became a free agent and were able to get a multi-year deal done with their eyes set on repeating as World Series champs in 1993.
Often being open minded to the potential for change can lead to new levels of success whether it be in baseball or business. 1993 is a great case study of this. After finishing atop the American League in hits during the regular season, Molitor stayed hot helping march the Blue Jays into the World Series by hitting nearly .400 to defeat the Chicago White Sox in the ALCS. He went on to hit an even .500 tying a World Series record en route to leading the Blue Jays to a World Series title and was named World Series MVP.
My college coach regularly said, “Little things become big things.” The more time has passed I’ve realized how true this is in every area of life. Just being open to doing something different can be the spark to new ideas and in turn new heights. If Paul Molitor was not open minded to the potential of playing outside of Milwaukee, he would have finished his career with no World Series title or World Series MVP.
Decide today to go all in on what it is you want to happen. Don’t rush by making an emotional decision that isn’t right long term but don’t be complacent at the same time. Maybe it means changing industries, making a pivot with comparable skill sets, going back to school, making a complete career change or like myself moving to a new city. Just take a swing and find out how far it can fly. You’ll look back on 2017 feeling no regret.
