Mets ace Dickey drops in on winter meetings, more action on deck at baseball's annual swapfest

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – R.A. Dickey wandered through the sprawling Opryland Hotel on Sunday, dropping into baseball's annual winter meetings for a quick visit.

The newly minted NL Cy Young Award winner had a purpose — nope, nothing to do with getting a new contract from the New York Mets. Not a sightseeing trip, either, to marvel at the river boats or waterfall inside the complex.

Rather, Dickey made the 15-minute drive from his home to see a Mets trainer for a routine checkup after abdominal surgery in October. The knuckleballer did find it a tad bit ironic, however, that when baseball's annual swapfest was last held in this hotel, in 2007, he was in limbo, left off Minnesota's list of protected players and plucked by Seattle in the Rule 5 draft.