DALLAS — The baseball world convenes at the Hilton Anatole Resort this week for the annual Winter Meetings.

All 30 front offices — plus key agents — are in Texas for what’s sure to be a busy and chaotic week with moves and potential trades.

The Cubs, not expected to be in the market for the sport’s biggest stars (like outfielder Juan Soto and pitchers Corbin Burnes and Max Fried), could still be extremely active over the next few days. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and his front offices are looking for ways to supplement a roster that returns practically its entire core, but is coming off back-to-back 83-win, playoff-less seasons.

Keep this page bookmarked for a running, live blog with news and events from the 2024 Winter Meetings in Dallas.

12:30 p.m. update:

Baseball officials and reporters are beginning to trickle into the massive, Hilton Anatole Resort for a hectic week.

The resort is similar to other locales that have hosted these meetings — signage and pageantry celebrating the Meetings are mixed in with holiday themes. Christmas trees and lights are sprinkled throughout and gingerbread and reindeer mascots are walking around while pillars and lights are adorned with logos of all 30 MLB teams and signs welcoming people to the 2024 Winter Meetings.

The biggest free agent on the market, outfielder Juan Soto, is reportedly nearing a decision on his free agent market. The known five finalists are the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers, with both New York teams the heavy favorites to land the superstar.

The Cubs aren’t in on the 26-year-old, but that doesn’t mean his decision won’t have ripple effects on the Cubs.

There’s a belief in the industry that the Cubs are open to moving Cody Bellinger this offseason to reshuffle their offense and try and shake things up for a team that has seemingly been stuck in neutral the last two years. Teams that miss out on Soto could be inclined to call Hoyer and the Cubs and seek out a deal for the 29-year-old lefty who can play both outfield and first base at a high level.

But moving Bellinger won’t be an easy task.

He has two years and $52.5 million remaining on his contract, including $27.5 million in 2025. Bellinger also has an opt-out after the 2025 season that comes with a $5 million buyout.

That price is a solid one if he performs as he did in 2023 when he was a 4.4 fWAR player with an .881 OPS and a 136 weighted runs created plus, 36 points above league average. But in 2024, Bellinger had a 2.2 fWAR, 109 wRC+ and .751 OPS.

Since 2020, Bellinger’s best season has been that 2023 campaign and teams might be wary to pay a premium — both in trade capital and in contract value — for a player who has been either only slightly above league average or below league average in 4 of his last 5 seasons.

Still, trading Bellinger could create an avenue for the Cubs to rejuvenate a team that has been eerily similar over the last two seasons — 83 wins, second place in the NL Central and no playoff berths. That would create an opening at the DH spot, allowing Seiya Suzuki to play right field and potentially paving the way for at-bats for some of their top prospects or a potential trade return.

Regardless, Soto’s impending signing will create ripple effects that could cause some more clarity for the Cubs in 2025 and beyond.