On Thursday, ESPN's Jayson Stark reported that the players' union and MLB "reached an agreement to lengthen the offseason negotiating periods for free agents by moving up the annual filing, arbitration and tender dates, starting immediately after this season." Today, MLBTR has learned the details, including the new 2010 deadlines.
- Instead of the typical 15-day free agent filing period following the World Series, it will be five days.
- Typically the deadline for a team to offer arbitration to its own free agents has been December 1st; it's now November 23rd.
- December 7th has been the deadline for free agents to accept or decline arbitration offers from their old teams; it's now November 30th.
- December 12th has been the non-tender deadline; it's now December 2nd.
- The above dates are confirmed. On the unconfirmed side, there is word that the Rule 5 draft may be moved to November 20th. The Rule 5 draft typically marks the end of the Winter Meetings, but that gathering takes place from December 6-9 this year in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
- The goal here, according to Stark, is to lengthen the offseason free agent negotiating period, resulting in fewer unsigned players in February and March.
