The Washington Nationals won the first World Series in franchise history by defeating the Houston Astros in Game 7, and with that the MLB offseason began in full earnest Thursday morning with the start of free agency.
For the Los Angeles Dodgers it amounted to David Freese, Rich Hill, Russell Martin and Hyun-Jin Ryu no longer being under contract. Of course, Freese had already announced his intention to retire.
Meanwhile, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman didn’t rule out potentially re-signing Hill, Martin or Ryu, though he also declined to discuss the likelihood of any of the three returning.
With MLB free agency also comes awards season, general managers’ meetings, Winter Meetings, the annual Rule 5 Draft and more.
Included below is a list of important dates to be mindful of for the 2019-20 offseason:
- Thursday, Oct. 31: Free agency begins at 6 a.m. PT, with teams receiving a five-day window to exclusively negotiate with their own free agents
- Saturday, Nov. 2: Some decisions on contract options due by 9 p.m. PT
- Monday, Nov. 4: End of “quiet period” where teams have an exclusive negotiating window with their free agents, deadline to issue qualifying offers ($17.8 million) to eligible free agents, and most decisions on contract options due
- Monday, Nov. 4: BBWAA Awards finalists (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year) announced on MLB Network
- Wednesday, Nov. 6: Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Awards announced on MLB Network
- Thursday, Nov. 7: Louisville Silver Slugger Awards winners announced on MLB Network
- Monday, Nov. 11: American League and National League 2019 Rookie of the Year Award winners announced on MLB Network
- Monday-Thursday, Nov. 11-14: General manager meetings (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
- Tuesday, Nov. 12: AL and NL Manager of the Year winners announced on MLB Network
- Wednesday, Nov. 13: Cy Young Award winners announced on MLB Network
- Thursday, Nov. 14: 2 p.m. PT deadline for players to accept or reject the one-year qualifying offer
- Thursday, Nov. 14: MVP winners unveiled on MLB Network
- Monday, Nov. 18: NL and AL Comeback Players of the Year announced
- Tuesday, Nov. 19: Designated hitter of the Year announced/li>
- Tuesday-Thursday Nov. 19-21: Owners meetings in Arlington, Texas
- Wednesday, Nov. 20: Deadline for clubs to set their 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 Draft
- Monday, Dec. 2: Deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players
- Sunday, Dec. 8: Modern Baseball Committee Hall of Fame Results
- Monday-Thursday, Dec. 9-12: 2019 Winter Meetings (San Diego)
- Thursday, Dec. 12: Rule 5 Draft concludes Winter Meetings
- Friday, Jan. 10, 2020: Teams and players must exchange filing salary figures for arbitration.
- Monday, Jan. 20, 2020: National Baseball Hall of Fame Class Announced
- Feb. 3-21: Arbitration hearings