Toronto Blue Jays fans can’t be faulted for perhaps tuning out this nightmare World Series featuring division-rival New York Yankees and the Shohei-Ohtani-led Los Angeles Dodgers.
But with the Dodgers up 3-0 in the Series, and one win away from the title, it is time to look ahead to the offseason when Toronto is expected to be busy trying to rebuild their roster into a competitive outfit.
With that in mind, let’s break down this offseason’s important dates and deadlines.
First day after the World Series
After the World Series ends, free agency opens for all eligible players. However, the five days after the World Series are known as the quiet period, an exclusive window where teams can negotiate with their departing free agents but those free agents can’t talk to other teams.
Additionally, the trade freeze ends and teams can make deals again.
A product of the Blue Jays sell-off at the deadline means that their only free agent is left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough.
Five days after the World Series
- The final day for clubs to give qualifying offers to eligible free agents. Players have until 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 19, per MLB.com, to accept or decline the offer.
- The quiet period concludes, allowing free agents to sign with any team.
- The deadline for teams and/or players to accept or decline 2025 club/player or mutual options.
- Teams must reinstate players on the 60-day injured list to the 40-man roster.
The qualifying offer is a one-year contract worth the average of MLB’s 125 higher-paid players. This year, the amount is expected to be $21.05 million, per MLB.com.
Teams can offer eligible departing free agents the QO. If the player accepts, he receives a one-year contract. If he declines, his former club will receive draft-pick compensation if he signs with another club. Players eligible for a QO must have been with their team for the entire season — Yusei Kikuchi, who Toronto traded to the Houston Astros, can’t receive it — and cannot have been offered a QO previously.
Since the Blue Jays’ only free agent is Yarbrough, they won’t have a QO decision. However, the Blue Jays may be interested in signing free agents who could have QOs attached to them. This has repercussions for their future draft class because if a player declines a QO and signs with a club other than his former one, the new club has to forfeit a future draft pick.
Players in the mix to receive QOs — and could therefore cost a draft pick — include Juan Soto (Yankees), Anthony Santander (Orioles), Alex Bregman (Astros), Teoscar Hernández (Dodgers) and Willy Adames (Brewers).
Losing a draft pick can deter some clubs from signing a free agent, but the Blue Jays have a recent history of signing players with QOs attached to them, including George Springer and Chris Bassitt.
The Blue Jays do not have anyone on the roster with a club, player or mutual option for 2025.
As for players on the 60-day IL, Alek Manoah, Jordan Romano, Will Wagner and Daulton Varsho must be re-added to the 40-man roster. The Blue Jays’ 40-man roster will have 43 players on it after Yarbrough is removed, so they will need to clear three spots.
Nov. 4-7: GM Meetings in San Antonio, Texas
The GM Meetings aren’t as splashy as the Winter Meetings and it’s been less common for big stories to emerge, but it’s the first big event to kick off the offseason. Typically, the GM Meetings are a chance for clubs and player representatives to lay down the foundation for potential deals with free agents and/or other clubs. This year’s meetings take place in San Antonio, Texas.
Nov. 19: Major and Minor League reserve lists due
This is the deadline for clubs to add Rule 5 Draft-eligible players to their 40-man roster to protect them from being selected. Typically, this is a key juncture for 40-man roster movement as clubs add prospects close to being MLB-ready while removing players who no longer fit into the short- or long-term plans.
Players who signed at 18 years old or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five seasons to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft. Players who signed at 19 or older have to be added within four years.
This year, some eligible Blue Jays players include: C Phil Clarke, 1B/3B/RF Riley Tirotta, 2B/CF/SS Adrian Pinto, 2B/3B/SS Eddinson Paulino, 3B/SS Alex De Jesus, 3B/1B/LF Damiano Palmegiani, OF Will Robertson, OF Dasan Brown, OF Gabriel Martinez, SP CJ Van Eyk, SP Chad Dallas, SP Kendry Rojas, RP Hayden Juenger, RP Connor Cooke, RP Eric Pardinho.
Nov. 22: Contract tender deadline
This is the deadline for clubs to decide which controllable players not signed to long-term deals they want to bring back for the 2025 season, although salary figures don’t yet have to be determined.
If a player is non-tendered, he is not offered a one-year contract, is removed from the 40-man roster and becomes a free agent. A team can decide to non-tender a player for various reasons, including redundancy on the roster, underperformance or the need to clear a roster spot. However, players are commonly non-tendered because their estimated arbitration salary exceeds what the team wants to pay them.
The Blue Jays have 10 arbitration-eligible players for the 2025 season. Salary estimates are courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: $29.6 million
Erik Swanson: $3.2 million
Jordan Romano: $7.75 million
Genesis Cabrera: $2.5 million
Dillon Tate: $1.9 million
Daulton Varsho: $7.7 million
Alejandro Kirk: $4.1 million
Alek Manoah: $2.4 million
Zach Pop: $1 million
Ernie Clement: $1.7 million
Of the players listed, Swanson, Romano and Tate could be considered non-tender candidates.
Swanson struggled in the first half of the season and was even optioned to Triple A. After he returned to the Blue Jays, his second-half ERA was 2.55 in 24 2/3 innings. If the Blue Jays believe Swanson can be the second-half version next season, then $3.2 million is reasonable for a useful back-end reliever. If the club is concerned about his future performance, he could be non-tendered.
Romano missed most of last season with an elbow injury that required mid-season surgery. With Romano in line for a raise to an estimated $7.75 million, the Blue Jays will have to consider whether they believe Romano is healthy and can return to his former dominant self in the closer role. Following the season, GM Ross Atkins said he didn’t know who the team’s closer would be next season, but he later clarified that Romano would be considered for the job.
“He’s got to come back and be the pitcher (he was),” Atkins said. “I don’t want to just lay my head on the pillow and say, ‘OK, that’s covered.’ I want to be open to it, depending upon his return, depending upon how he’s feeling. But I believe he will. I believe he can.”
The Blue Jays claimed Tate off waivers in September and he had a 5.40 ERA in four outings. The club must decide if they saw enough from Tate to warrant a nearly $2 million salary or if they believe they can spend that money better elsewhere.
Dec. 8-11 Winter Meetings in Dallas, Texas
Baseball’s biggest offseason event, the Winter Meetings, is designed to spur on trades and signings since it brings nearly the entire sport together. Several events will take place at the Winter Meetings in Dallas including:
MLB Draft Lottery, Dec. 10
All non-playoff teams are in a lottery for the top six picks in the 2025 MLB Draft. The Blue Jays have the fifth-highest odds (7.48 percent) of winning the No. 1 pick.
Rule 5 Draft, Dec. 11
All clubs with room on their 40-man roster can pick eligible unprotected players from other rosters for $100,000. A selected player must immediately be added to his new team’s 40-man roster and remain on the 26-man roster for the entire 2025 season (unless injured), or else be offered back to his original club for $50,000.
Jan. 10, 2025: Deadline to agree to contract with players eligible for arbitration
Teams and arbitration-eligible players have until this date to negotiate a salary for the 2025 season. If a team and a player can’t agree on a deal, they’ll exchange salary figures and go to an arbitration hearing in February, when a salary will be decided.
If the Blue Jays and Guerrero have yet to agree to a contract extension, this negotiation period will be a crucial juncture to come to terms on a long-term deal with the first baseman before he becomes a free agent after the 2025 season. Last year, the Blue Jays and Guerrero went to arbitration, where Guerrero won his case and was paid $19.9 million.
(Top photo of Blue Jays team president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins: Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)
