The 2025-26 Offseason Begins

A thrilling World Series came to an end in Game 7 last night. The Dodgers won in an extra-inning affair after Miguel Rojas hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning, while World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto came out of the bullpen to finish off the Blue Jays despite starting Game 6.

The offseason is officially underway. Last year, the Braves and Angels lined up on the Jorge Soler deal within the first few hours of the reopened trade window. Another Day 1 trade of that significance might be too much to ask, but the moves will be flooding in before long. There’ll be a host of waiver claims as clubs clear space from their 40-man rosters, largely in tandem with the necessary reinstatement of injured players from the injured list. Clubs and players have five days to decide whether to exercise any contractual options.

Free agency technically opens today, but there’s a five-day window for exclusive negotiation between teams and their own free agents. We’re not getting a Kyle Tucker signing anytime soon, but we could see a smaller extension or two as teams try to keep players from testing the open market. The Royals and Michael Wacha worked out a three-year, $51MM contract within this five-day period last winter.

MLBTR’s winter coverage will kick off later today with our preview of the Top 40 Trade Candidates. We’ve already released projected arbitration salaries from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz and taken a position-by-position look at the upcoming free agent class while previewing the qualifying offer decisions for pitchers and position players. MLBTR’s Offseason Outlook series for Front Office subscribers is also nearly complete. We’ll publish the entries for the two World Series teams within the next few days, while we’re awaiting the Rockies’ GM hire before finalizing the Colorado version.

Our Top 50 Free Agents post will be published on Thursday evening after the finalization of option and QO calls.

NOVEMBER 2: Free agency begins for eligible players, but they aren’t permitted to sign with other teams for at least five days. Free agents no longer count against their previous teams’ 40-man rosters. Trades of players who were on the 40-man roster reopen for the first time since last summer’s deadline.

NOVEMBER 2: Gold Glove winners announced.

NOVEMBER 6: Free agents are eligible to sign with any team. All players or teams with contractual options/opt-out clauses must make their decisions by this evening. Teams have until 4:00 pm Central to decide whether to issue qualifying offers to eligible free agents.

NOVEMBER 6-7: Silver Slugger winners announced. The National League winners will be revealed on the 6th, while the American League honorees will be awarded on the 7th.

NOVEMBER 10-13: General managers meetings in Las Vegas, Nevada. The GM Meetings typically lay the groundwork for the offseason rather than spurring much roster movement in themselves. They’re nevertheless significant as an opportunity for media to speak with high-level executives, which can shed some light on teams’ goals for the winter.

NOVEMBER 10: Rookie of the Year award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 11: Manager of the Year award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 12: Cy Young award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 13: MVP award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 13: Reliever of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year and Hank Aaron award winners announced. All-MLB teams revealed.

NOVEMBER 18: Players have until 3:00 pm Central to decide whether to accept the qualifying offer. If they accept, they’ll return to their previous team on a one-year, $22.025MM contract. Players who accept a QO, like all major league free agent signees, cannot be traded without their consent until June 15. Those who decline the QO are tied to draft compensation. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently covered what each team would receive for losing a qualified free agent and the penalties that teams would pay to sign a player who declined a QO.

NOVEMBER 18: Rule 5 protection deadline. Teams have until this date to add players who would otherwise be eligible for the Rule 5 draft to their 40-man roster to keep them out of the draft.

NOVEMBER 18-20: Quarterly owners meetings in New York. Commissioner Rob Manfred typically speaks with reporters at this time.

NOVEMBER 21: Non-tender deadline at 7:00pm Central. Teams must decide whether to offer contracts to the arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration players on their 40-man roster. They do not need to agree to salaries by this date, but there’ll be a flurry of salary agreements as players who might otherwise be non-tender candidates often lock in deals at slightly lesser than projected salaries to avoid being cut loose. Players who are non-tendered immediately become free agents without going through waivers.

DECEMBER 7-10: Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida. The Winter Meetings are the offseason’s busiest few days and annually feature ample free agent and trade activity.

DECEMBER 7: Hall of Fame Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee announcement. Formerly known as the Veterans Committee, the 16-person panel votes on eight candidates who were not previously inducted into Cooperstown by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The eight candidates under consideration are usually announced in early November; those who receive at least 12 votes on December 7 are elected to the Hall of Fame. This year’s committee will consider only players whose greatest contributions came in the 1980s or later.

DECEMBER 9: Amateur draft lottery. The White Sox have the best chance of securing the first overall pick at 27.8% (h/t to Baseball America). The Rockies, Nationals and Angels are not allowed to pick higher than 10th. The CBA prohibits teams from having lottery picks in three straight years, which rules out Colorado. Clubs that do not receive revenue sharing cannot pick in the lottery in consecutive seasons, ruling out Washington and Los Angeles.

DECEMBER 10: The Rule 5 draft will conclude the Winter Meetings. Players selected must stay on their new teams’ active rosters for the entire ’26 season or be offered back to their original organization.

DECEMBER 15: Closing of the 2025 signing period for international amateurs.

JANUARY 8: Teams and arbitration-eligible players exchange salary filing figures. They’re free to continue negotiating beyond this date, though virtually every team treats this as an unofficial deadline to avoid an arbitration hearing unless they sign a multi-year contract.

JANUARY 15: Opening of the 2026 signing period for international amateurs. The majority of the international signings for the year will be announced on this date, as virtually all the top prospects have reached handshake agreements by this point.

JANUARY 21: Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame announcement at 5:00 pm Central.

EARLY FEBRUARY TBA: Arbitration hearings. Arbitrators must choose either the team’s or player’s filing figure, not a midpoint.

FEBRUARY 11: Voluntary report date to Spring Training for pitchers and catchers.

FEBRUARY 15: Voluntary report date to Spring Training for other players.

FEBRUARY 20: Mandatory report date. Spring Training play begins.

MARCH 5-17: 2026 World Baseball Classic.

MARCH 25: Yankees @ Giants standalone game on Opening Night.

MARCH 26: Opening Day for the other 28 teams.