We are quickly approaching the start of the official MLB offseason, and there are several dates that will reveal information you won’t want to miss.
With the lockout becoming more likely to begin in December, expect to witness a lot of cancellations, alterations, or postponements of important events such as the Winter Meetings, owner meetings, and the draft lottery. If the MLBPA and the owners’ dispute lasts deep into 2027, there’s at least a chance we may not see any baseball at all in the majors
in 2027. The best-case may be something like what happened last time around, when an agreement was reached in early March and no games were ultimately lost outside of spring training; the 2022 campaign just began and ended a week later than originally planned.
Regardless, the list below tracks all the important dates that you’ll need to keep track of as we make our way through the offseason, with modifications to be anticipated from the impending lockout.
Day after the World Series ends: Free agents will automatically file at 9 a.m. EST. They won’t be allowed to sign for five days.
November 1: Gold Glove Award winners will be announced at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN. Cody Bellinger, Austin Wells, and José Caballero were all named finalists this season.
November 2: The Hall of Fame eight-person Contemporary Baseball Era ballot for post-1980 managers, executives, and umpires will be released. Silver Slugger Award finalists will be announced at 2 p.m. EST, followed by the BBWAA Award finalists on MLB Network from 6 – 8 p.m. EST.
Five days after the World Series ends: Free agents are now free to sign with any team and will need to make a decision by the time night falls. This also marks the last day to reinstate players from the 60-day injured list and issue qualifying offers to free agents who are eligible. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and David Bednar are among the Yankees who could potentially receive the QO, which has been set at $23.15 million.
November 6: Hear & Hustle Awards will be announced, and the Platinum Glove Award winners will be revealed at the Gold Glove Awards dinner in New York City.
November 9: Rookie of the Year will be announced at 7 p.m. EST on MLB Network.
November 9-12: The GM Meetings will begin on November 9th and continue through the 13th.
November 10: Manager of the Year will be announced at 7 p.m. EST on MLB Network.
November 11: The Cy Young Awards and the new BBWAA Relievers of the Year honors will be announced at 7 p.m. EST on MLB Network. Yankees’ ace Cam Schlittler is a frontrunner for the Cy Young after a stellar second season in pinstripes; he would be New York’s first winner since his teammate Gerrit Cole in 2023.
The MLB Awards Show, premiering on MLB Network at 9 p.m. EST, will reveal the All-MLB first and second teams, the Hank Aaron Award winners, Comeback Players of the Year, Mariano Rivera & Trevor Hoffman Relievers of the Year, and the Edgar Martinez Designated Hitter Award winner.
November 12: This year’s MVP Award winners will be announced at 7 p.m. EST on MLB Network.
November 16: The 2027 Hall of Fame ballot will be released at 12 p.m. EST. Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez are among the candidates from last year’s cycle who earned enough votes to carry over into 2027. Retirees from 2021 will be under consideration, with Giants great Buster Posey leading a group that also includes career Yankee Brett Gardner.
November 17-19: The owners meetings will take place in New York City.
November 17: The Silver Slugger Awards will be announced.
This date also marks the Rule 5 protection deadline, which means that teams have to add any eligible players to their 40-man roster in order to make sure that they aren’t available for the draft.
The deadline for players to accept qualifying offers will also be at 4 p.m. EST.
November 20: This marks the deadline for decisions on tendering or non-tendering contracts for eligible players.
December 1: The Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. EST, and barring a surprise in the current negotiations, the lockout will officially begin. As a reminder, minor-league players who are not already on a team’s 40-man roster have their own separate CBA that ends in December 2027, and no matter how long the MLB lockout lasts, the minor-league season will begin on time.
December 6: The Hall of Fame announces the Contemporary Baseball Era inductees. As mentioned in the November 2nd note, only managers, executives, and umpires are under consideration by that commitee for 2027. The more familiar BBWAA results come later on.
December 7-9: The Winter Meetings are scheduled be held in San Diego, but the major-league parts of it will likely be cancelled due to the lockout.
December 8: The Draft Lottery will take place, but will likely be postponed due to the lockout.
December 9: The Rule 5 Draft is scheduled take place, but will likely be affected in some way due to the lockout. The MLBPA did propose moving it up to late November so that there isn’t a repeat of what happened during the 2021 lockout, when the major-league portion of the Rule 5 was cancelled and only the minor-league phase was held. (There have not been any updates on the proposal’s acceptance.)
January 8: This is the official deadline for arbitration numbers to be exchanged between players and teams, but it will likely be postponed due to the lockout.
January 15: International Free Agent market for 2027 opens.
January 19: The results of the 2026 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot and the 2027 inductees will be revealed, and we’ll find out who will be cementing their names in Cooperstown.
February 19: Yankees spring training opener, on the road in Dunedin against the Blue Jays (subject to change due to the lockout).
March 25: Yankees Opening Day, at home against the Blue Jays (subject to change due to the lockout).
