The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series, which was the 12th championship matchup between the two rivals. In MLB, the offseason starts right away, so fans, players, and teams have no choice but to keep their minds on baseball. Additionally, MLB offseasons are jam-packed with action, and this one will be bigger than most.
Some of the biggest stars in MLB will hit the open market as free agents this offseason, including Juan Soto. Free agency is far from the only aspect of the offseason, though, so in this article, we are going to detail every major date between now and Opening Day of next year.
Players become free agents: Oct. 31
The MLB offseason kicks off right after the conclusion of the World Series, which wrapped up on Oct. 30 after the Dodgers won in five games. As of 9 a.m. ET on Oct. 31, all players with expiring contracts officially became free agents. However, they are not yet free to sign with any team around the league.
Additionally, teams can start making trades again at this time. We've already seen a couple of moves, although minor, made during the first few days of the MLB offseason. The Baltimore Orioles traded for Daz Cameron, and Jorge Soler was moved from the Atlanta Braves to the Los Angeles Angels.
Gold Glove winners: Nov 3
There are a handful of prestigious awards in baseball, but the winners of most of them aren't announced until later. In fact, we don't even know who the finalists are for the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year awards. A Gold Glove denotes the best defensive player at each position in both leagues. The finalists for the award are listed below.
American League:
Pitcher: Griffin Canning (Los Angeles Angels), Seth Lugo (Kansas City Royals), Cole Ragans (Kansas City Royals)
Catcher: Freddy Fermin (Kansas City Royals), Cal Raleigh (Seattle Mariners), Jake Rogers (Detroit Tigers)
First base: Nathaniel Lowe (Texas Rangers), Ryan Mountcastle (Baltimore Orioles), Carlos Santana (Minnesota Twins)
Second base: Andres Gimenez (Cleveland Guardians), Nicky Lopez (Chicago White Sox), Marcus Semien (Texas Rangers)
Third base: Alex Bregman (Houston Astros), Ernie Clement (Toronto Blue Jays), Jose Ramirez (Cleveland Guardians)
Shortstop: Brayan Rocchio (Cleveland Guardians), Anthony Volpe (New York Yankees), Bobby Witt Jr. (Kansas City Royals)
Left field: Colton Cowser (Baltimore Orioles), Steven Kwan (Cleveland Guardians), Alex Verdugo (New York Yankees)
Center field: Jarren Duran (Boston Red Sox), Jake Meyers (Houston Astros), Daulton Varsho (Toronto Blue Jays)
Right field: Wilyer Abreu (Boston Red Sox), Jo Adell (Los Angeles Angels), Juan Soto (New York Yankees)
Utility: Willi Castro (Minnesota Twins), Mauricio Dubon (Los Angeles Angels), Dylan Moore (Seattle Mariners)
National League:
Pitcher: Chris Sale (Atlanta Braves), Luis Severino (New York Mets), Zack Wheeler (Philadelphia Phillies)
Catcher: Patrick Bailey (San Francisco Giants), Gabriel Moreno (Arizona Diamondbacks), Will Smith (Los Angeles Dodgers)
First base: Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies), Matt Olson (Atlanta Braves), Christian Walker (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Second base: Ketel Marte (Arizona Diamondbacks), Bryson Scott (Philadelphia Phillies), Brice Turang (Milwaukee Brewers)
Third base: Nolan Arenado (St. Louis Cardinals), Matt Chapman (San Francisco Giants), Ryan McMahon (Colorado Rockies)
Shortstop: Dansby Swanson (Chicago Cubs), Ezequiel Tovar (Colorado Rockies), Masyn Winn (St. Louis Cardinals)
Left field: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Arizona Diamondbacks), Ian Happ (Chicago Cubs), Brandon Marsh (Philadelphia Phillies)
Center field: Brenton Doyle (Colorado Rockies), Blake Perkins (Milwaukee Brewers), Jacob Young (Washington Nationals)
Right field: Sal Frelick (Milwaukee Brewers), Jake McCarthy (Arizona Diamondbacks), Mike Yastrzemski (San Francisco Giants)
Utility: Brendan Donovan (St. Louis Cardinals), Kike Hernandez (Los Angeles Dodgers), Jared Triolo (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Contract options + qualifying offers: Nov. 4
Nov. 4 is a big day for knowing if certain players will hit the open market or be under contract with their previous team for another season, as that is the day when teams/players have to decide if contract options will be picked up. Teams have the choice to let a player walk or pick up their contract option if it is a team option, whereas players have the choice on player options and opt-out options. There are also mutual options.
Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees already opted out of his contract for 2025 which makes him a free agent able to sign wherever he wants. The decision was a surprise for many, as Cole had four years and $144 million left on his deal. However, the Yankees can void the opt-out by adding one year and $36 million to his contract. If not, the team that just lost in the World Series risks losing their ace for nothing.
Qualifying offer decisions are also due on Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. ET. Qualifying offers are one year contracts worth the average of the top 125 salaries, which equates to $21.05 million this season. To be eligible for a qualifying offer, the player must have spent the entire 2024 season with the same team and had never previously received the qualifying offer.
Free agency begins: Nov. 4
Unlike other sports, MLB free agency is a marathon and not a sprint, so a lot of players won't sign on the first day of free agency. With that said, the first day to officially sign players in free agency is Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. ET. This year's free agent crop is stacked with star players, including Juan Soto. The Yankees outfielder will demand one of the biggest contracts ever, and it is far from a guarantee that he will return to New York.
Award finalists: Nov. 11
Finalists for Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP awards will be announced on Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. ET on an MLB Network broadcast.
Silver Slugger winners: Nov. 12
Winners for the Silver Slugger awards will be announced on Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. ET. The Silver Slugger details the season's best offensive players at each position. It takes into account factors such as slugging percentage, on-base percentage, home runs, and batting average. For the second time ever, there will also be a team award for Silver Slugger.
Hall of Fame ballot: Nov. 18
Just the 2025 Hall of Fame ballot will be released on Nov. 18. Voting results don't come until later. This will notably be Billy Wagner's 10th and final year of eligibility. It will also be the first time that Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, Troy Tulowitzki, Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, and Felix Hernandez will be eligible for the Hall of Fame.
Awards week: Nov 18-21
The winners for Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP awards will be announced at 6 p.m. ET on each day from Nov. 18-21.
Qualifying offer decisions: Nov. 19
The deadline for players to accept or decline qualifying offers is Nov. 19 at 4 p.m. ET. Players who accept the qualifying offer return to their respective teams for one season, whereas players who decline the qualifying offer will hit the open market and will be free to sign with anyone.
If a player declines the offer and signs elsewhere, their previous team will be rewarded draft compensation, while the signing team must forfeit a draft pick and international signing money.
Rule 5 protection: Nov. 19
By 6 p.m. ET on Nov. 19, teams must add minor leaguers to their 40-man roster if they wish to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. The Rule 5 Draft allows teams to steal players from other team's farm systems who they've been stashing in the minor leagues and haven't given them a chance at the major league level yet.
Non-tender deadline: Nov. 22
Although contracts don't have to be signed yet, Nov. 22 is the last day for teams to offer pre-arbitration and arbitration eligible players a contract for 2025. If a contract isn't extended, players are considered “non-tendered” and become free agents.
Competitive balance draft picks: Dec. 1
Teams that fall in the bottom 10 in revenue and/or market size receive extra draft picks in order to increase the competitive balance in MLB with the other big spenders across the league. These are the only tradeable draft picks in MLB, and they are awarded on Dec. 1. There is overlap between the bottom 10 teams in revenue and the bottom 10 in market size, so 14 teams will receive competitive balance picks.
Winter Meetings: Dec 8-11
A lot of action happens at the Winter Meetings. General managers have a chance to talk face-to-face, which leads to the busiest time of the MLB offseason when it comes to trades and free agent moves.
2025 MLB Draft lottery: Dec. 10
MLB recently added an MLB Draft lottery in an effort to limit/eliminate tanking, and it has become one of the biggest events of MLB's offseason. The lottery determines the top six picks of the draft, with each of the 18 non-playoff teams having a shot at the top pick. The worse your winning percentage was, though, the better your odds at the number one pick.
After the top six picks, the 7-18 slots are filled with the other non-playoff teams according to inverse order of standings, and picks 19-30 are determined by postseason finishes. The lottery odds are below.
Colorado Rockies: 22.45% (chance at the number one pick)
Miami Marlins: 22.45%
Los Angeles Angels: 17.96%
Washington Nationals: 10.2%
Toronto Blue Jays: 7.48%
Pittsburgh Pirates: 5.31%
Cincinnati Reds: 3.67%
Texas Rangers: 2.45%
San Francisco Giants: 1.9%
Tampa Bay Rays: 1.5%
Boston Red Sox: 1.22%
Minnesota Twins: 1.09%
St. Louis Cardinals: 0.82%
Chicago Cubs: 0.68%
Seattle Mariners: 0.53%
Arizona Diamondbacks: 0.27%
Oakland Athletics: Not eligible
Chicago White Sox: Not eligible
The White Sox and Athletics are both ineligible for the lottery this year despite missing the playoffs because revenue sharing teams cannot select in the lottery in back-to-back years. The White Sox had the worst season in modern MLB history this season, but they had the fifth pick last year.
Rule 5 Draft: Dec. 11
If a team does decide to pick up a player in the Rule 5 Draft, then they must be on their new team's major league roster all season long or else they will go through waivers and be offered back to their original team.
Arbitration filing deadline: Jan. 9
Jan. 9 is the deadline to file 2025 salary figures for arbitration eligible players. Teams submit the contract values that they think the players are worth, while the players submit contract values for what they think they are worth.
International signing period: Jan. 15
The international signing period allows teams to sign amateur players not eligible for the MLB Draft. The international signing period used to be a summer event, but it has been starting in January ever since the COVID-19 pandemic.
2025 Hall of Fame class announced: Jan. 21
Hall of Fame inductees for the 2025 class will officially be announced on Jan 21. Players need 75% of the vote in order to make the Hall of Fame.
Arbitration hearings: Jan. 27-Feb. 14
While teams and arbitration-eligible players have plenty of time to agree to contracts before this, some deals won't be worked out and players/teams will be forced into arbitration hearings to work out deals.
Training camp begins: Mid-February
Teams set their own reporting dates, but all 30 MLB teams will start training camp in the middle of February in Arizona and Florida. The Cactus League and Grapefruit League preseason games will begin on Feb. 20. The start of training camp technically ends the 2024-25 MLB offseason.
Tokyo Series: March 18-19
The first regular season games of 2025 will be about a week before Opening Day. The Chicago Cubs and defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers will kick off the new season on March 18 and 19 in Tokyo, Japan, before returning to their spring trainings. Of course, two of the best Japanese players in baseball play for the Dodgers in Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Opening Day: March 27
Opening Day, which sees all 30 teams start the new season, will be on March 27.
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