Star lefty Johan Santana, shown pitching against the Athletics in July, became a Twin at the Winter Meetings eight years ago, and he could become an ex-Twin at this year’s event.

AP / Jim Mone

PHILADELPHIA — No event in professional sports is quite like baseball’s winter meetings.

Even with one season over and another four months away, even with the players having scattered about the globe and the stadiums sitting dark and empty, the game elbows itself to the forefront of America’s sporting consciousness for the better part of a week — whenever this time of year rolls around.

Never mind that the winter meetings are sometimes as eventful as a rain delay. Their arrival always generates excitement and expectation.

Some years, the meetings live up to the hype.

In 1992, the owners threw $228 million at a free-agent class that included Greg Maddux and Barry Bonds. The commissioner’s office became so concerned by the spending — it seems modest compared with the $300 million the Cubs spent all by themselves last winter — that it tried to save the owners from themselves. Hence the decision to have major-league clubs sit out the winter meetings the next five years.

When the big-league clubs jumped back in — in 1998, in Nashville — the meetings lived up to the advance buzz. Pitcher Kevin Brown became the first player to sign a $100-million contract.

Two years later, in Dallas, slugger Manny Ramirez and pitcher Mike Hampton both scored deals in excess of $100 million, and Alex Rodriguez blew the lock off the vault by signing with the Rangers for $252 million.

Not all winter meetings are so eventful.

Many executives left the 2002 meetings in Nashville griping about a lack of activity created by the uncertainty of whether the Montreal Expos would sell off talent. But those meetings were not completely without action. In a move that was given little attention at the time, the Twins released an underachieving hitter named David Ortiz. Boston subsequently signed Ortiz, who has blossomed into one of the most feared hitters in the game and helped the Red Sox win two World Series.

While the Twins came to regret their decision to release Ortiz, they could pat themselves on the back for the minor move they made at the 1999 meetings, in Anaheim, Calif. They acquired a young left-hander named Johan Santana from Florida, shortly after the Marlins had selected him from the Astros’ Triple-A roster in the Rule 5 draft. Santana developed into one of the best pitchers in baseball, a two-time Cy Young Award winner.

This year’s winter meetings, which begin tomorrow at Nashville’s Opryland Hotel and close with the Rule 5 draft at noon Thursday, could seemingly bring the Twins and Santana full circle.

The man who became a Twin at the winter meetings eight years ago could become an ex-Twin at this year’s event.

Santana, who will turn 28 in March, headlines the list of players who could be traded this week. The budget-conscious Twins, who already have said goodbye to free agent Torii Hunter, have been fielding Santana offers for almost a month, and the action has heated up in recent days with the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels and Mariners showing the most interest. Actually, there is not a club in baseball that wouldn’t be interested in having Santana. It is just that not every team has the combination of resources it will take to get him: Multiples of young, game-breaking, major-league-ready talent and the budget to sign Santana to a contract extension that could be worth $150 million. Santana, a free agent after next season, has a no-trade clause and will not waive it without an extension worth what he could get on the open market next winter.

In addition to Santana, other top talents could be available for trades this week. The Marlins could move slugging third baseman Miguel Cabrera, who will open next season at age 24. Cabrera has averaged 31 homers and 115 RBI the last four seasons and won’t be a free agent until after 2009.

The Dodgers and Angels both like Cabrera, and have the young pieces to get him.

The list of starting pitchers who could be traded includes the Marlins’ Dontrelle Willis, the Orioles’ Erik Bedard, and the A’s Dan Haren and Joe Blanton.

Don’t be surprised if the Twins go all the way into a rebuilding mode and make closer Joe Nathan available.

On the whole, action on the free-agent front might not be as headline-grabbing as the trade activity. This winter’s free-agent class is weak, and two of its marquee players were subtracted when Hunter signed with the Angels and Alex Rodriguez re-signed with the Yankees.

Even without Hunter and Rodriguez in play, these meetings should be interesting.

But then again, we say that every year.