With the Milwaukee Brewers having won their first-ever World Series, it is officially the offseason for Major League Baseball. There are a few key dates every team has marked on their calendar, and there is expected to be a lot of action before the expiration of the league’s collective bargaining agreement.
October 29, 9:00 AM EST
Players officially become free agents. Trading can resume.
November 1: Gold Glove Winners Announced
The Gold Glove winners are announced on ESPN at 8:30 p.m. EST. The Mets have three finalists in Nolan McLean, Luis Torrens and Carson Benge.
November 2: Free Agency Opens, QO Offers, Option Decisions
From the day the World Series ends, teams have five days of exclusive negotiations with pending free agents from their roster. By this date, players and clubs will also need to decide whether or not they will exercise options on contracts. Teams can also decide to issue a qualifying offer (worth $23.15 million) to pending free agents.
November 9-12: Awards Week
Rookie of the Year on Monday, then Managers of the Year on Tuesday, Cy Youngs on Wednesday, and finally MVPs on Thursday. All of the announcements will be on MLB Network starting at 7 p.m. ET each day.
November 10-12: GM Meetings in Las Vegas
Could be more important than in the past with the expected lockout.
November 17: Deadline For Qualifying Offer Decisions, Reserve Lists
Once players are tendered a qualifying offer, they will have until 4 PM EST on November 17 to accept or decline. If a player declines the offer and signs with a new team, their former team is entitled to draft pick compensation.
Teams also have to choose which players to add to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft –though the major league portion of the draft is highly unlikely to happen.
November 17-19: Owners Meetings in New York
Could be of the last strategy meetings before the CBA expires in two weeks.
November 20: Non-Tender Deadline
By this date, teams will need to extend offers to all players that are under club control. If a player is not tendered a contract, they will become a free agent.
December 1: CBA Expires
If MLB and the MLBPA cannot come to an agreement by 11:59 PM EST on December 1, there will be a lockout, which will freeze all activity until a new agreement is reached.
Stuff That Won’t Likely Happen/Get Postponed
The Winter Meetings are scheduled to take place in San Diego from Dec. 7 through 9, but those almost certainly aren’t happening.
During those meetings, the draft lottery and Rule 5 Draft typically take place. Neither of them will happen assuming a lockout.
The arbitration filing deadline is Jan. 8, though that will likely be postponed until the new CBA is signed.
The next International Free Agent Period would begin on Jan. 15, but it’s another thing unlikely to happen with the lockout expected to extend at least into the 2027 calendar year.
