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The champagne wasn’t even dry in the visitors’ clubhouse at Yankee Stadium when Major League Baseball’s offseason sparked to life.
Within 24 hours of the Los Angeles Dodgers claiming their eighth World Series championship, free agents were declared, trades were happening, and options were being exercised or declined. The Hot Stove wasted no time warming up, so why slow this article down with a lengthy prelude.
Here are the key dates and events for MLB and the Cardinals.
Locally, the winter of reset has already begun.
Halloween – Free agency starts
The end of the World Series cracks open the door to the offseason and free agency. Eligible players became free agents on Thursday. They are removed from 40-man rosters. But they are not permitted to sign with a new team until the market opens in full five days from now.
Three Cardinals became free agents on Friday.
Paul Goldschmidt did for the first time in his career, and he will reach the open market when the five-day exclusive window for Cardinals closes. The Cardinals want to watch how his market develops and have not completely ruled out the possibility of a reunion, one official recently described. But the Cardinals also recognize there are obstacles to a return, such as the possibility of several contending teams being interested and offers they won't meet.
Reliever Andrew Kittredge and veteran Matt Carpenter also became free agents.
Carpenter wants to play in 2025 in a role similar to what he had in 2024.
Oh, as of Thursday, trades can resume.
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Nov. 3 – Rawlings Gold Glove awards
On Sunday, the top defensive awards will be revealed during a telecast on ESPN that begins at 7:30 p.m. Ƶ time. The Cardinals have three finalists for a National League Gold Glove: rookie Masyn Winn at shortstop, Brendan Donovan at utility infielder, and Nolan Arenado is a finalist for his 11th Gold Glove award.
If he wins, only Brooks Robinson will have more Gold Gloves at third base.
San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman, an El Toro high teammate of Arenado’s in Orange County, California, is the top challenger for the trophy.
Nov. 4 – Option decisions
The Cardinals already made theirs, as first reported Thursday morning at StlToday.com and the Post-Dispatch.
Nov. 4 – Market opens. QO deadline.
Free agents are exactly that – free to sign with any team when the exclusive negotiating period ends at 4 p.m. Ƶ time. Unlike some of the other pro sports that experience a frenetic rush of signings on the first day, right as free agency opens, Major League Baseball fosters a longer tease. In recent years, some of the top free agents (see: Montgomery, Jordan) have not signed until after the start of spring training.
One of the reasons for that is a past commissioner’s wish to keep baseball in the headlines all winter, and what better way to do that then to draw out free agency.
The afternoon of Nov. 4 is also when qualifying offers are due to departing free agents.
A qualifying offer presents a player with a one-year, $21.05-million binding contract. If the player accepts, he is signed to that salary and on the roster. If he declines then his former team will be compensated with a draft pick. As they advertise cutting costs, the Cardinals aren’t likely to make a qualifying offer to their free agents.
However, if trying to accumulate picks, it makes for an entertaining discussion.
Nov. 5-7 – General Manager Meetings
While some front office executives will have meetings in San Antonio, Texas, ahead of the formal start to the annual gathering, these are the official dates.
This is often the place where the Cardinals (and other teams) begin building deals that can speed to completion. A year ago, around the time of the GM Meetings, the Cardinals had a call with Aaron Nola to get a feel for his interest and price, and they started focusing on signing Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, and Sonny Gray as their pitching, pitching, pitching moves. The GM Meetings are also where the Cardinals began talks on trading for Paul Goldschmidt in 2018, and it is where they’ll engage other teams in conversations for their veterans this coming month.
The Executive of the Year award is announced at the GM Meetings.
There are also agent meetings held by the players’ union around this team and in the same place, so this is an active place for teams to meet with agents as well.
Nov. 12 – Silver Slugger awards
The Louisville Slugger honors go to the best hitter at every position. The last National League pitcher to win a Silver Slugger? Atlanta’s Max Fried.
Nov. 18 – Rookie of the Year awards
The beginning of the annual Baseball Writers’ Association of America awards week arrives on MLB Network.
A quick reminder: The ballots for these awards are due before the start of the postseason, quite literally before the first pitch of the playoffs. So, October performance is not considered. There are 30 ballots for each award, and they are split two to every NL city’s chapter.
The Ƶ BBWAA chapter has two MVP voters, two Cy Young Award voters, two Manager of the Year voters, and two Rookie of the Year voters for the NL honors.
All votes will be public once the winner is announced.
There are many years when Winn would be a contender for the NL ROY, and there have been years when his performance would rise to being the favorite. This is not that year. He may appear on some ballots, but the expectation is that the three top vote-getters for the award will be San Diego’s Jackson Merrill, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, and Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio.
Nov. 19 – QO deadline; Rule 5 moves
Players have until this afternoon to accept a qualifying offer. One thing that’s interesting about the QO is that it not only locks in a one-year, $21.05-million deal, it also, by rule, limits a teams ability to trade that player. The team cannot without permission from the player until around Flag Day of the next year.
This is also the deadline for teams to make moves to protect eligible players from the Rule 5 draft.
The Cardinals have work to do here.
Two of their top pitching prospects, right-handers Tink Hence and Tekoah Roby, must be added to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. Here is a list, though not comprehensive, of some other players of note who are eligible for the Rule 5 draft if not protected: OF Matt Koperniak, RHP Ian Bedell, RHP Matt Svanson, and RHP Darlin Saladin. Pitcher Inohan Paniagua, who has been mentioned in coverage here through the years, is eligible to be a minor-league free agent if not protected.
Nov. 19 – Manager of the Year awards
Of interest to Cardinals fans with this award is where Mike Shildt finishes after his first season leading San Diego from the dugout. Shildt previously won this award in 2019 with the Cardinals. If he wins for 2024, back-to-back National League Managers of the Year will have direct ties to the recent Cardinals. Skip Schumaker won the honor in 2023 as manager of the Marlins.
Nov. 20 – Cy Young awards
Nov. 21 – MVP awards
The National League MVP ballot is the one I had this season, and my votes – ranked order, top 10 – will be public and available with the other 29 voters after the announcement on MLB Network.
You can .
Nov. 22 – Tender deadline
By this afternoon, teams must present contracts to all members of their 40-man roster, though salaries can be determined later. This is another spot in the winter where teams can trim from their roster and add to the free-agent pool.
In the industry, this is called “non-tendering” a player.
It is one of the reasons why there are pockets of sluggish pace every year because teams want to know if the supply increases to meet demand and thus shift costs.
Teams can also trim their roster down ahead of the Rule 5 protection through using waivers and transactions such as designating for assignment or release.
Dec. 8-11 – Winter Meetings
The centerpiece of baseball’s hot stove season takes the Cardinals back to Dallas and the place where a pivot in club history happened. That’s right. For the first time since 2011, the Winter Meetings will be held in Dallas, and it was there that Albert Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels. It was also at the same hotel where the Houston Astros decided to hire Jeff Luhnow as the general manager to see them into the American League and out of the fog.
John Mozeliak’s final winter meetings as president of baseball operations takes him back to a pivotal time his tenure with the Cardinals. He left those meetings without re-signing a three-time MVP, but quickly moved to sign Carlos Beltran to maintain a contending roster.
For different reasons because of a different direction, these meetings could be just as compelling for the Cardinals.
Teams usually arrive Dec. 8 with formal events beginning Dec. 9.
Dec. 10 – Draft lottery
To the winner of the No. 1 pick could go Ethan Holliday, Matt’s son and Jackson’s brother.
For the second year, the Cardinals will have a crack at the No. 1 overall pick. It’s slim. With the 15th-worst record of the teams that did not reach the playoffs, the Cardinals have a 0.82% chance at getting the first overall pick and their chance to draft one of the Holliday brothers. Once they lottery is over, if the Cardinals do not leapfrog into the top picks, they’ll be slotted with the other remaining teams by winning percentage.
Notably, the team that drafted Ethan’s Cardinals Hall of Fame father, the Colorado Rockies, have the best chance at the first overall pick, at 22.45%, tied with Miami.
Dec. 11 – Rule 5 Draft
The traditional conclusion to the Winter Meetings happens in the morning, and it’s where the Cardinals grabbed reliever Ryan Fernandez a year ago.
Dec. 15 – International signing closes
The international amateur signing window that used to stretch from summer to summer has been shifted in recent years to January through December.
Dec. 31 – Hall of Fame ballots due
Members of the BBWAA who are eligible to vote for the National Baseball Hall of Fame must have their ballots postmarked by the end of the year and on their way toward Cooperstown, New York. This ballot is stacked and an unanimous election is possible (please be possible) for a newcomer to the ballot.
That's right, Ichiro Suzuki will appear on it for the first time.
CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, Curtis Granderson, Mizzou standout Ian Kinsler, Hanley Ramirez, All-Almost-Cardinal Team shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, and laser-hitter Dustin Pedroia will also be on the ballot for the first time.
Jan. 9 – Arbitration swap
This is the deadline for arbitration-eligible players and teams to exchange salary figures ahead of hearings which will begin within a few weeks. Once tendered a contract (see above), arbitration-eligible players and teams have all this time to negotiate a deal. If they’re unable to arrive at one, they exchange salary figures that will go before an arbiter.
The arbiter can choose between the two numbers, not split the difference.
The Cardinals, like many teams, have adopted a “file and trial” stance – meaning if they get to the swap of salaries, they’re going to a hearing. The one carve-out the Cardinals have is if a multi-year deal is possible.
The Cardinals expect to have six arbitration-eligible players: Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, JoJo Romero, Ryan Helsley, John King, and Andre Pallante. Helsley is due a significant raise (around $4 million, possibly) in his final year of arbitration eligibility. Pallante is set to qualify as a super-two with just enough service time to make it, and if he had spent a few more days with Class AAA Memphis he might have just missed the cut.
Jan. 19 – Ƶ Baseball Writers’ Dinner
One of the fixtures of the annual Winter Warm-up weekend, the Ƶ Chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will host its dinner. The evening is the biggest fundraiser for the baseball writers’ not-for-profit charity that funds scholarships for student journalists and the annual Rick Hummel Memorial Internship at the Post-Dispatch.
