The Annual Justin Upton Availability Dance And Other MLBullets

The GM Meetings are wrapping up, and, as expected, there have been a variety of rumors but little action.

• The big rumor from this week's GM Meetings in California is the availability of Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton (he's available every year, right? It sure seems like it). D-backs GM Kevin Towers says he'll listen to offers, and insiders like Ken Rosenthal suggest there's an 80% chance he's dealt. But it might be resolved any time soon, as Towers says he's not in any rush to make a move. "Our sights are set pretty high on what it would take, and if nobody meets what we're looking for - and we'd like to address a couple of different areas - if nobody meets it, then we stay status quo and keep him. We're a good team with him." I don't know how you keep a player after transparent statements like that, but, hey, whatever works.
• Speaking of Upton, FanGraphs looks at both Uptons - B.J. and Justin - and their career trajectory. They might both be changing teams this offseason, but what does the future hold for the talented but inconsistent Uptons?
• Anibal Sanchez is probably the second best starting pitcher on the free agent market this year, and he's pricing himself accordingly: he wants $90 million over six years. All things considered, including the direction of dollars, I don't think that's all that unreasonable.
• Michael Bourn, B.J. Upton, Rafael Soriano, and Nick Swisher are all expected to reject their qualifying offers today, which will make them subject to draft pick compensation when they sign with a new team. The other four players who received qualifying offers - Josh Hamilton, Adam LaRoche, Kyle Lohse, and Hiroki Kuroda - are probably also going to decline the offer of a $13.3 million one-year contract.
• MLB revealed its Silver Slugger winners for 2012, and Rob Neyer gives them a once over. He doesn't have too many nits to pick, but is surprised that Joey Votto and Giancarlo Stanton were excluded. You will be shocked to learn that no Cubs made the cut.
• Walt Weiss, former big leaguer and high school baseball coach, has landed the Rockies' managerial gig. We're seeing a wave of managers with limited or no experience taking over, with Robin Ventura and Mike Matheny as examples. We'll see how Weiss does, though he'll likely have to have a long leash - the Rockies aren't expected to be great next year.
• The finalists for the BBWAA Awards in the National League, and in the American League. No huge surprises on the lists.

Brett Taylor is the Lead Writer at Bleacher Nation, and a Contributor here at Bleed Cubbie Blue.