MLB offseason key dates: Free agency begins, awards, Winter Meetings, Hall of Fame, spring training and more

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the 2024 World Series champions. They defeated the New York Yankees in five games to clinch the franchise’s eighth championship, and their seventh since leaving Brooklyn in 1958. The was the most anticipated World Series in recent memory and, by and large, it lived up to the hype despite the swift finish.

With the World Series now complete, the 2024-25 offseason has officially begun, and several significant events are right around the corner. Here are the important dates and deadlines for the coming weeks and months.  

Oct. 31: Players become free agents, trading resumes

As of 9 a.m. ET on Thursday, eligible players (i.e. those with at least six years of service time) are free agents. It is important to note free agents can not sign with new teams just yet. They have to wait five days for that. The first five days of the offseason are an exclusive negotiating period during which free agents can only talk money with their most recent team. Very, very few players re-sign during the exclusive negotiating period. Edwin Díaz and the Mets two years ago is by far the most notable in recent memory. Once players get this close to free agency, they typically test the market. Trades involved 40-man roster players can resume on this day as well. Those get put on hold after the trade deadline each summer.

Nov. 3: Gold Glove winners announced

Gold Glove winners announced during an ESPN broadcast at 8:30 p.m. ET. Here are this year’s Gold Glove finalists. In addition to the nine individual positions, there is also a utility Gold Glove and a team Gold Glove.

Nov. 4: Contract option decisions

Most contract option decisions are due on this date. Some contracts specify a different date (the Yankees had to make a decision on Zack Britton’s 2022 club option in November 2020, for example), but the vast majority have to be made within five days of the end of the World Series. Club options are controlled by the team, player options and opt-outs are controlled by the player, and mutual options are kind of pointless. They are essentially a way to move money to next year’s payroll.    

Some option decisions are no-brainers, like Sean Manaea opting out of his $13.5 million salary with the Mets or the Diamondbacks picking up their $7 million club option for Merrill Kelly. This offseason’s notable contract option decisions include Gerrit Cole (can opt out of remaining four years and $144 million) and Marcell Ozuna ($16 million club option).

Nov. 4: Deadline to make qualifying offer 

Specifically, the deadline is 5 p.m. ET. The qualifying offer is a one-year contract worth the average of the top 125 salaries, or $21.05 million this offseason, according to ESPN. To be eligible for the qualifying offer, a free agent must have spent the entire 2024 season with one team and have never received the qualifying offer previously. For example, the Orioles can make Corbin Burnes the qualifying offer, but the Dodgers cannot do the same to Jack Flaherty because he was traded at midseason.

Nov. 4: Free agency begins

The five-day exclusive negotiating period ends at 5 p.m. ET and free agents are truly free. They can negotiate and sign with any team as of this date. That said, much like the regular season, MLB free agency is a marathon, not a sprint. We (probably) won’t see a rash of signings on Day 1 because MLB is not a salary-capped league, and free agents aren’t worried about getting left out in the cold when cap space runs out.

Nov. 4-7: GM Meetings in San Antonio

Generally speaking, the GM Meetings are used to handle off-the-field matters such as rule changes, among other things. But when you put all 30 GMs in one place, deals inevitably get discussed and sometimes completed. Two years ago, the Braves traded Jake Odorizzi to the Rangers for Kolby Allard at the GM Meetings, for example. Also, the groundwork is often laid for trades that are completed at a later date.

Nov. 11: Awards finalists announced

Finalists for 2024’s major awards will be announced during an MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET. Those awards are Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and Most Valuable Player. Three finalists are announced for each award in each league. As a reminder, voting for these awards was completed before the postseason. These are regular-season awards.  

Nov. 12: Silver Slugger winners announced

There will be an MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET. If Silver Sluggers are your thing, this is the date for you. Two years ago, a utility player Silver Slugger was added, then last year MLB and Louisville debuted a team Silver Slugger. The Silver Slugger finalists will be announced Nov. 4.

Nov. 18: 2025 Hall of Fame ballot released

Just the ballot will be announced, to be clear. The voting results and 2025 Hall of Fame class will be revealed at a later date. Here are the players eligible for this year’s ballot. Most notably, this is Billy Wagner’s tenth and final year of eligibility. This is also Year 4 on the ballot for Alex Rodriguez, Year 8 for Andruw Jones, and Year 3 for Carlos Beltrán. Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia are among the first-timers set to join the Hall of Fame ballot this year.

Nov. 18-21: Awards week

That is Rookies of the Year on Monday, Managers of the Year on Tuesday, Cy Youngs on Wednesday, and MVPs on Thursday. The awards will be announced during an MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET each day. Here are our CBS Sports staff awards picks.

Nov. 19: Qualifying offer decisions

The deadline for free agents to accept or reject the qualifying offer is 4 p.m. ET on this date.  Players who accept the qualifying offer sign that one-year, $21.05 million contract and remain with their team (players who accept the QO cannot be traded until next June 15 without their consent). Free agents who reject the qualifying offer are attached to draft-pick compensation. Their former team receives a draft pick if they sign elsewhere, and their new team has to forfeit a draft pick and international bonus money. Pete Alonso and Juan Soto are among the free agents who will surely reject the qualifying offer and instead sign lucrative multi-year contracts this offseason.

Nov. 19: Deadline to file reserve lists

That is a fancy way of saying 6 p.m. ET is the deadline for teams to add eligible minor leaguers to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. Generally speaking, college players drafted no later than 2021 and high school players drafted no later than 2020 are Rule 5 Draft eligible this winter, as are players signed internationally no later than 2020. Among the notable Rule 5 Draft eligible prospects this offseason are Cubs outfielder Owen Caissie and Cardinals righty Tink Hence. Those two and many others will be added to the 40-man roster on this date.

It should be noted there are usually several minor trades on this date as teams get their 40-man roster in order. Two years ago, the Rays traded Xavier Edwards to the Marlins at the Rule 5 Draft protection deadline to clear 40-man space.

Nov. 19-21: Owners meetings in New York

The quarterly owners meetings cover big-picture business matters and are rarely a source of hot stove news or rumors. Last year’s November meetings were notable because the owners voted on the Athletics‘ proposed relocation to Las Vegas, which was unanimously approved. There’s nothing as significant on the docket this time around.

Nov. 22: Non-tender deadline

This is the deadline for teams to offer their pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players a contract for 2025. Contracts do not have to be signed yet. An offer just has to be extended. Players who do not receive a contract offer by this date are considered “non-tendered” and become free agents. Notable players are non-tendered every offseason as teams decide their salary outweighs their performance, and the trade market turns up nothing worthwhile. Nick Senzel and Brandon Woodruff were among those non-tendered last offseason.

Dec. 1: Competitive balance draft picks assigned

These are the extra draft picks given each year to teams that fall in the bottom 10 in revenue and/or market size. There is overlap between the two groups, so there are 14 competitive balance picks awarded each year, not 20. Competitive balance picks are MLB’s only tradeable draft picks.

Dec. 8: Hall of Fame’s Classic Baseball Committee results

The Hall of Fame’s Classic Baseball Committee voting results will be announced during an MLB Network broadcast. The Hall of Fame announced several changes to their Era Committee voting structure two years ago and the Classic Baseball Committee considers “players, managers, executives, pioneers and/or umpires who made their greatest impact on the game through 1979.” This year’s eight-person ballot will be revealed on Nov. 4.

Dec. 8-11: Winter Meetings in Dallas

This is typically when all hot stove hell breaks loose. The Winter Meetings are the busiest period of the offseason and feature plenty of trades, free agent signings, and rumors. It is four days of nonstop hot stove action. Historically, the biggest moves of the offseason are completed at the Winter Meetings. GMs can talk face-to-face with agents and other GMs to get things done.

Dec. 10: 2025 draft lottery

In an effort to curb tanking, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to a lottery to determine the top six picks of the annual amateur draft as part of the current collective bargaining agreement. The 18 non-playoff teams each have a shot at the No. 1 pick, though the worst teams have the highest odds. Here are this year’s odds for the No. 1 selection in the 2025 draft (via Baseball America):

Teams that pay into revenue sharing cannot select in the lottery in back-to-back years, so the White Sox, who had the No. 5 pick in 2024, are out of the 2025 lottery despite setting the modern record with 121 losses. The A’s, meanwhile, cannot get a lottery pick this year because they had lottery picks the last two years, and receive revenue sharing. Teams that receive revenue sharing can not pick in the lottery in three consecutive years. Teams in Chicago’s and Oakland’s situations cannot pick higher than No. 10. 

The lottery determines the top six draft picks. Picks 7-18 are the remaining non-playoff teams in reverse order of the standings. Picks 19-30 are the 12 postseason teams ordered by their finish, with the Wild Card Series losers coming first and the World Series winner picking last. The lottery will be broadcast on MLB Network at 5:30 p.m. ET. 

Dec. 11: Rule 5 Draft

By rule, players selected in the Rule 5 Draft must remain on their new team’s MLB roster all season in 2025, otherwise they must go through waivers and be offered back to their original team. Teams don’t expect to find difference-makers in the Rule 5 Draft (Johan Santana is the exception, not the rule). They usually look for middle relievers, platoon bats, and lottery tickets. Most Rule 5 Draft picks don’t stick and wind up back with their original team. Last offseason’s notable Rule 5 Draft selections were righties Mitch Spence (A’s) and Justin Slaten (Red Sox).

Jan. 9: Arbitration filing deadline

This is the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to submit salary figures for 2025. The player files what he believes he should be paid while the team files what they believe the player should be paid. This date is only the filing deadline and the two sides can still agree to a contract of any size even after filing salary figures. The vast majority of arbitration-eligible players agree to a contract before the filing deadline and avoid this headache. We’ll get to what happens if the two sides can’t reach a deal later. Matt Swartz and MLB Trade Rumors released their 2025 salary arbitration projections on Oct. 1. Their model has proven to be quite accurate over the years.

Jan. 15: International signing period opens

The 2025 international signing period opens at 9 a.m. ET. The annual signing period used to run from July 2 to June 25, though MLB and the MLBPA agreed to push the start of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 signing periods back to the following January because of the pandemic, and now the new January start is permanent. Here is MLB Pipeline’s list of 2025’s top 50 international prospects. This past January, the Padres gave shortstop Leodalis De Vries a $4.2 million bonus on the first day of the international signing period. He had an .803 OPS with 11 home runs in 75 games at High Class-A as a 17-year-old in 2024.

Jan. 21: 2025 Hall of Fame class announced

There will be an MLB Network broadcast at 6 p.m. ET. The Hall of Fame ballot is revealed in November, votes are compiled over the following weeks, then the results are announced in the dog days of the offseason. Among holdovers on the ballot, Wagner was the closest to getting in without actually making it last year. He received 73.8% of the vote, just shy of the 75% needed for induction. Wagner and Ichiro have the best chance to get into the Hall of Fame this voting cycle.

Jan. 27 to Feb. 14: Arbitration hearings

Inevitably, a few arbitration-eligible players and their teams will be unable to come to terms on a contract, and wind up in front of an arbitration panel. Each side states their case — hearings can be contentious because the team essentially outlines the player’s shortcomings, and explains why he deserves a lower salary than he believes — and the three-person panel picks either the salary the player filed or the salary the team filed on Jan. 9. Nothing in between. Again, teams and players can work out a contract of any size prior to a hearing, even after filing salary figures. Luis Arraez, Alec Bohm, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were among the players to go to an arbitration hearing last offseason.

Mid-February: Spring training begins

Spring training camps open across Arizona and Florida in the middle of February. Each team sets their own reporting dates for pitchers and catchers and then position players, though they’ll all be up and running by the second full week of February. Cactus League and Grapefruit League exhibition games begin Feb. 20, and all 30 teams will be in action by Feb. 22.

March 18-19: Tokyo Series

The Cubs and defending World Series champion Dodgers will open the 2025 season with two games at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. They will be MLB’s first regular-season games in Japan since 2019 and Shohei Ohtani, Shota Imanaga, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Seiya Suzuki will all be on hand. Following these two games, the Dodgers and Cubs will return to home and wrap up spring training before resuming their regular seasons.

March 27: Opening Day

All 30 clubs will be in action on the traditional Opening Day, with four of the 15 games featuring intradivision matchups. Next year will be the third year of the league’s new, more balanced schedule. Once again, every team will play at least one series against every other team in 2025. No more rotating divisions for interleague play.