LAS VEGAS — There was a time when the gambling capital of the United States would have made the perfect backdrop for the winter meetings.

That's because the annual event used to bring out the adventurous side of Major League Baseball executives. The direction of entire franchises would hang in the balance of the frequent trades that took place during the meetings.

It remains to be seen how this year's meetings, taking place at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, will be remembered. But the kind of headline-grabbing trade that used to mark the event has yet to materialize.

And even if it does — the San Diego Padres are trying to deal former Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy — it will fall short of the bevy of deals that meetings of decades past produced.

Each winter seems to bring more hype leading up to the meetings, which rotate to a different city every December. And each winter it tends to result in less news to justify it.

"The problem with the winter meetings now is that they've gotten way too big and attract way too many people for teams to get a whole lot done," ESPN baseball writer Jayson Stark said. "Nowadays, it's such a mob scene, you have a large segment of general managers who are literally afraid to walk into the (hotel) lobby. ... I'm beginning to wonder if they've outlived their intended purpose." Still, there is official business that takes place.

Seminars are held for team officials throughout the four days. The Rule 5 draft — where teams can draft minor leaguers who have languished in other organizations — is held on the final day.

But the winter meetings used to provide a relaxed forum for GMs to socialize. And that fostered a good environment to hatch blockbuster deals.

"They've changed drastically," Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said. "At one point in time there were a lot of baseball executives who would sit around, have a few beverages, the writers would be among them, and talk the game.

"And the writers would have a chance to hear insight into what the club was thinking. ... I actually liked it better back then." It's not like blockbuster deals are extinct. Just last year, the Florida Marlins traded slugger Miguel Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis to the Detroit Tigers during the meetings in a highly anticipated swap.

But there's less incentive for teams to pull off a trade now according to Detroit Free Press baseball writer John Lowe, who's covered the winter meetings since 1980.

"It used to be that free agents signed a lot in November," thus encouraging teams to trade at the meetings, Lowe said. "Now free agency has spilled into the winter meetings. People are disappointed each year that there's not (more trades). But the way it's set up, nothing has to happen." Tell that to Padres GM Kevin Towers, who arrived in Vegas intent on unloading Peavy. Towers treats the meetings as "bringing your closer in, trying to close things out on a deal." But, like Colletti, he acknowledged it's tougher to sit down with other teams these days and establish a good rapport.

"A big part of making deals now is developing relationships," Towers said. "It could be having dinner or it could be over a cocktail - sitting here in a social setting. Anymore, it's almost impossible when people are grabbing your arm (because they) want a minute." It's understandable if team executives want to avoid the large media contingent staking out the Bellagio lobby this week. But A's general manager Billy Beane makes a point: That media attention casts a spotlight on baseball when football typically would dominate headlines.

"They bring a focus onto baseball from a media standpoint for a full week," Beane said. "And even though we sort of grind our teeth as GM's about having to deal with it, it's not necessarily a bad thing." To others, an opposing team's front office is just a phone call away.

There's plenty of dialogue taking place between teams all year long - via cell phone, e-mail or, more likely these days, text messages.

"Personally, I think (the winter meetings) are kind of antiquated," Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said. "There's so much communication that's done (other ways). If we decided we were going to change it one year it wouldn't bother me."