Key 2023-2024 Offseason Dates for Major League Baseball

Mapping out all the key dates for all the major events this offseason for the Diamondbacks and the rest of MLB.

With the Texas Rangers having defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 119th World Series four games to one, the MLB offseason officially got started this morning at 9 AM Eastern. Here is a handy calendar for your off season reference. 

Article has been updated with a clarification of Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s eligibility to receive a qualifying offer. Nick Piecoro reports that Gurriel is not eligible for a Q.O. due to his contract allowing him to become a free agent upon its conclusion despite not accruing the necessary service time. Also arbitration estimates for the players who are likely to get tendered next year are included.

November 2nd 

Free Agency Already Started today at 9:00 A.M. EST

Eligible players, including those with six or more years of service time are now free agents. However, known as the “quiet period” they may on sign with their current ballclubs. After five days, or November 6th, free agents may then begin negotiations with any team.

Arizona players set to reach free agency include outfielder Tommy Pham (36), right-handed pitcher Mark Melancon (39), outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (30), and third baseman Evan Longoria (38).

November 6th:

Option Decisions, whether team options or player options must be decided on by this date. Mark Melancon is owed a $2M buyout after not throwing a single pitch in the 2023 season. Arizona already released right-hander Zach Davies in September, so they're on the hook for a $500K buyout.

Qualifying Offers must be extended by this date at 5 p.m. EST. These one-year offers are set at $20.325 million this year. These can be offered to eligible free agents that have been with the team for the entire season. Players acquired mid-season cannot be extended a Q.O. Outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is not eligible for one, as there is a clause in his contract that allows him to reach free agency despite otherwise not being eligible with only five years of service time.

Quiet Period Ends: Free agents are now able to negotiate with any team.

November 7-9

General Manager’s meetings in Scottsdale

The GM’s will have a chance to meet in person to make trades or lay the groundwork for future trades, and discuss other on and off field matters.

November 14

Deadline to accept or reject a Qualifying Offer: If a player rejects the Q.O. then the team offering will receive draft pick compensation, and the team signing will lose a pick and international bonus money as well.

Rule 5 Draft Protection/40-Man Roster addition: By this date any minor league players drafted after 2020 or High School players drafted after 2019 are Rule 5 eligible. If the team wishes to protect them from the Rule 5 draft, they must be added to the 40-man roster.

Top prospects Blake Walston and Deyvison De Los Santos figure to be added onto the 40-man roster. Walston is a 6'5" left-hander that averages around 90 MPH on his fastball with solid secondary offerings that profiles into a back of the rotation starter. De Los Santos is the top power bat in the organization in terms of raw power, but struggled in the first half of the season in Double-A. He's 20 but could eventually develop into an everyday first baseman or designated hitter if he can improve his contact skills a bit more. Austin Pope, who throws mid-90s with a solid slider and curveball, could be an under the radar player who gets added as well. He projects to be an up-and-down arm in 2024 with the potential to settle into a middle relief or setup role down the road.

Wilderd Patino and Conor Grammes are two names I expect Arizona to leave off the roster and leave exposed for other teams. Patino's bat has been slow to develop despite having loud tools. Grammes struggles with control, but has upper-90s velocity and a big curveball. 

November 14-16

Owners meetings, The Owners of the clubs or their representatives get together to discuss high level issues facing the league. This year there will be a vote on the Oakland Athletics'  plans to relocate to Las Vegas.

November 17

Non-tender deadline: Pre arbitration and arbitration eligible players must be offered a contract by this date. When you hear the phrase “non-tender candidate” it means the club may choose allow that player to become a free agent rather than offer them a contract.

Some non-tender candidates include outfielder Kyle Lewis and right-handed reliever Austin Adams. Lewis is set to earn a $1.61M salary and Austin Adams $1.1M according to Matt Swartz's arbitration model. Lewis could very well be on the chopping block as a candidate to be designated for assignment as the team tries to pass him through waivers. Both players struggled with injuries, with Lewis missing more than a month due to an undisclosed illness and Adams suffering a fractured right ankle on August 2nd.

The other players that are set for raises in arbitration next season, with projections from Swartz, are Christian Walker ($12.7M), Paul Sewald ($7.3M), Zac Gallen ($10.9M), Ryan Thompson ($1.3M), Kevin Ginkel ($1.4M), and Joe Mantiply ($1M). 

December 3rd-6th Winter Meetings

Winter Meetings start December 3rd this year in Nashville. This is MLB’s marquee offseason event, during which GM’s and agents get together and many trades and free agent signings are consummated. While a lot of action takes place, it’s also a time for GM’s to once again lay the groundwork for future deals, as it’s still over two months away from the start of spring training.

December 5th The Draft Lottery that decides the first six picks in the draft will take place. After losing the World Series, the D-backs are not in the lottery and will be 29th in the draft order in 2024. It's also worth noting that the Washington Nationals, a team that gave revenue sharing money, are not eligible for a lottery pick and cannot pick higher than 10th. The Mets, Padres, and Yankees will also be moved down 10 spots in the order if they fail to land a Top 6 pick, since they were $40 million over the luxury tax number of $233 million. 

Rule 5 Draft December 6th  The last event of the of the winter meetings is typically the Rule 5 draft. As soon as that's over there is a mad dash for the airport. Eligible minor league players that were not added to the 40-man roster by November 14th may be selected by another team. Those players must remain on the MLB roster for the entire season or otherwise be returned to their original club.

The Rule 5 Draft has a major league and minor league phase. The major league phase is one round, in which minor leaguers not on a 40-man roster are eligible to be selected. Arizona has not selected a player for their own roster since Tyler Jones in 2018. The minor league phase works similarly, with players not on a 38-man Triple-A roster now eligible to be selected. Peter Solomon, who saw a brief stint on the big league roster last season, was a selection in the minor league phase of last year's Rule 5 Draft.

January 12th :

Arbitration figures exchange deadline. This is the date by which teams and players must submit their figure. The parties may continue to negotiate prior to and up to the arbitration hearing date. Under Mike Hazen, the D-backs are a file and trial team, so typically the negotiations will end at this point.

January 15th

The international signing period begins. Teams may use their international signing bonus pool to sign international players that are not part of the Rule 6 amateur draft that takes place over the summer.

January 29 through February 16th

Arbitration hearings are scheduled. Teams and players that are not able to reach agreement prior to their hearing date go through the process of having an independent three-person panel hear each side’s case. There is no midway point. The arbiters must pick one side’s number or the other. Last year the Diamondbacks and Josh Rojas went to hearing, with the D-backs coming out on top.

February 14th

Pitchers and catchers report (Estimated). This date is not yet official, but typically it’s within a couple of days of this. In fact, many players will have already shown up to camp earlier than this.