The champagne is hardly dry on the Milwaukee Brewers' World Series win, but there's no rest for the wicked when it comes to the MLB calendar. And that's especially true this offseason, with just a month to go until the current CBA expires and potentially plunges us into a lockout.
Usually, Hot Stove season is a pretty leisurely affair, with signposts every month between the end of the prior season and the start of the next spring training. Now, though, that marathon has become a one-month sprint: Anything that doesn't get done before the beginning of December will have to wait until baseball's labor war reaches a conclusion. Here's everything to know about how the offseason schedule is shaping up, and what's at risk.
Key MLB offseason dates before lockout deadline
Thursday, Oct. 29: Players hit the open market
One day after the final out of the World Series, all players with at least six years of MLB service time who are not under contract for 2027 officially become free agents. Those players then have a five-day window in which they can exclusively negotiate with their former team. Once that window is up, though ...
Monday, Nov. 2: 'Quiet period' ends — and free agency begins
... then Hot Stove season truly begins. Five days after the World Series ends, MLB is officially open for business, as the quite period ends and all 30 teams can negotiate and sign any free agent they can reach an agreement with. Tarik Skubal headlines this year's class, though things drop off pretty steeply after that — meaning we could see more significant trades than usual.
It's worth noting that this is also the deadline by which teams must extend qualifying offers to their pending free agents. For the uninitiated: The qualifying offer is a one-year contract worth the average of the top 125 salaries, or $23.15 million this year, that teams can offer to former players (provided they haven't been offered the QO previously and were not acquired midseason).
Monday, Nov. 9–Thursday, No. 12: GM Meetings
Technically speaking, the GM Meetings exist in order to hash out off-field matters like rule changes and the offseason calendar. It's only natural for front offices to start laying the groundwork for potential deals, though, and that goes double this year, given that this is the only time all 30 lead executives (and agents) will be together before the potential lockout at the beginning of December. We could see more activity than usual in Las Vegas.
Tuesday, Nov. 17–Thursday, Nov. 19: Owners meetings
Owners meetings happen pretty regularly, and usually only deal with big-picture items — voting on changes of ownership, that sort of thing. The only reason this year figures to be a bit more high-profile is that it comes less than two weeks before the current CBA expires. Expect ownership to make one last pitch for a salary cap, and prepare everyone for a coming lockout.
Tuesday, Nov. 17: Qualifying offer deadline
Any free agents who are extended a qualifying offer have until Nov. 17 to accept or decline. If they accept, they re-sign with their previous team on a one-year, $23.15 million deal. If they decline, they become free agents, with whichever team signs them forking over draft compensation to their former club.
Friday, Nov. 20: Tender deadline
Players who have not yet reached that six years of playing time — whether pre-arbitration or arbitration-eligible — they must be tendered a contract for 2027 by Nov. 20. The contract itself is merely a formality; they don't have to actually be signed yet, and the specific dollar amount for arbitration-eligible players will be settled at a later date. But every year, some teams decide that a player's salary for next year is no longer worth their production. Jarren Duran sticks out as a potential non-tender candidate this offseason.
Tuesday, Dec. 1: Current CBA expires
This is the big one. Owners and the MLBPA have until 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1 to reach agreement on a new CBA. If they don't, the old one will expire, at which point owners are expected to lock out the players and send the offseason into a deep freeze. Teams cannot make any 40-man roster-related decisions, such as trades or signings, until a new CBA is reached, which would throw the rest of this winter's calendar into chaos.
Winter Meetings and more MLB offseason dates in limbo thanks to looming lockout
Monday, Nov. 7–Thursday, Nov. 10: Winter Meetings
Winter Meetings are typically the most active point in the MLB offseason, days of wheeling and dealing during which big free agents are liable to sign and major trades get done. But the Meetings were canceled during baseball's last lockout in 2021, and they'd likely be canceled again if the two sides can't come to an agreement before Dec. 1.
Tuesday, Dec. 8: MLB Draft Lottery
Unlike the Winter Meetings, the draft lottery can't just be postponed; teams need to know where they'll be picking in the first round, after all. Rob Manfred has yet to offer any specifics as to what the new lottery schedule will look like, but if a new CBA can't be hammered out in time, it's likely that it'll be moved up into November.
January–February: Arbitration process
On Jan. 8, teams and their arbitration-eligible players need to either reach an agreement on a contract for 2027 or submit what they think a fair salary figure would be. Most arbitration-eligible players sidestep the bad optics and hurt feelings and hammer out a deal before this deadline. The ones who don't run the risk of heading to a potentially ugly arbitration hearing in late January or early February, during which a neutral arbitrator will hear arguments from both sides before determining which of the two salary figures they believe is appropriate.
Mid-February: Spring training begins
Pitchers and catchers traditionally report to spring training at some point during the second week of February. That seems unlikely to be the case next spring, though, unless we can avert labor disaster between now and December. Just how far back can the start of spring training be pushed without missing regular-season games? The last time we faced a lockout, back in 2021, the two sides agreed to a new CBA on March 10, which delayed Opening Day by a week but still allowed for a 162-game season after the league agreed to push the start of the playoffs back as well.
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