NEW YORK, N.Y. — With the World Series decided, Major League Baseball moved into its offseason Thursday, and the calendar between now and December is packed because a labor shutdown could stop the hot stove cold.
Players with at least six years of service became free agents at 9 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, and trades involving 40-man roster players are allowed again for the first time since the summer deadline. For five days, though, free agents can only work out deals with their most recent club. Gold Glove winners are also due to be named Thursday night.
That exclusive window closes Nov. 2 at 5 p.m. Eastern, the same deadline for teams to make qualifying offers and settle most contract options. Players then get 10 days to accept or turn down a qualifying offer. Awards finalists are released Nov. 2 as well.
General managers meet in Las Vegas from Nov. 9 through Nov. 12. Award week runs alongside it, opening with the top rookies on Nov. 9, then managers on Nov. 10 and pitchers for the Cy Young on Nov. 11, before the MVPs close it out Nov. 12.
Later in November, teams face the deadline to protect minor leaguers from the Rule 5 Draft and to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration players, with anyone not offered a deal becoming a free agent.
The big date is Dec. 1, when the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players association expires. Owners are expected to lock players out if there is no new deal, and every transaction would stop at that moment. During the last lockout, baseball scrapped both its Winter Meetings and its Rule 5 Draft, and a long standoff could reach spring training or the 2027 season.
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