Inevitably, whenever the Blue Jays’ season wraps up for another year, a friend or an acquaintance — and likely someone unfamiliar with baseball — will ask me, “So, what do you do in the offseason?”
The answer is always the same. “Actually, there is a lot to do.”
Along with tracking free-agent signings and trades, there are several important dates, deadlines and events that take place during MLB’s offseason that serve to propel teams towards the construction of their rosters for the following season.
Let’s take a closer look at some important offseason junctures and what they mean specifically for the Blue Jays.
First day after the World Series
Eligible players become free agents and their former clubs have five days to exclusively negotiate with them — otherwise known as the quiet period. The trade market also re-opens.
The Blue Jays have five players set to become free agents after the conclusion of the World Series — Matt Chapman, Brandon Belt, Jordan Hicks, Hyun Jin Ryu and Kevin Kiermaier.
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Five days after the World Series
• The final day for clubs to give a qualifying offer to eligible free agents. Players have until Nov. 14 at 4 p.m. ET to accept or decline the qualifying offer.
• The quiet period ends, allowing free agents to sign with any club.
• Deadline for teams and/or players to pick up or decline 2024 club/player or mutual options.
• All players on the 60-day injured list must be reinstated to the 40-man roster.
The qualifying offer is a pre-determined one-year deal — this year, it’s reportedly going to be around $20.5 million. Players who decline the qualifying offer have draft compensation attached to them if they sign with another club.
Teams can extend the qualifying offer to eligible free agents — a player is eligible if he hasn’t yet received a QO and did not get traded during the just-completed season — and if it’s accepted, he signs a one-year deal with the club. If declined, the former team receives an extra draft pick if the player signs with another team, while the new team forfeits a draft pick.
Of the Blue Jays’ free agents, only Chapman looks poised to be under consideration for the qualifying offer since he’ll be one of the better free agents in a weak position-player market. He’s also represented by agent Scott Boras, so it’s reasonable to think they’ll be pursuing a longer-term deal. In this case, the Blue Jays can protect themselves by gaining a draft pick if Chapman signs elsewhere.
The Blue Jays have two players who have contract options for next season, including Whit Merrifield, who has a mutual option worth $18 million, and Chad Green, who has a series of complicated club and player options.
Mutual options, where both the club and player have to opt-in, are rarely exercised and $18 million for one year of Merrifield seems more than the Blue Jays would want to commit now, making it likely Merrifield becomes a free agent. Green’s uniquely structured contract first gives the team a club option for three years, $27 million. If declined, Green has a player option for one-year, $6.25 million. If he declines that, the Blue Jays get a final crack at a two-year, $21 million option.
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The Blue Jays have three players on the 60-day IL — Adam Cimber, Otto Lopez and Hagen Danner — who will all need to be reinstated to the 40-man roster at this juncture.
Nov. 7-9: General Manager meetings
While generally not as busy as the Winter Meetings, the GM meetings function as a productive time for teams to lay initial groundwork on potential contracts with free agents and deals with other clubs. This year’s meetings will take place in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Nov. 14: Major and Minor League reserve lists due
By 6 p.m. ET, clubs must add players who are eligible for this year’s Rule 5 Draft to the 40-man roster. Players who signed at 18 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 prospects include: C/RF/LF Zach Britton, 1B Rainer Nunez, 2B/3B Tanner Morris, 2B Miguel Hiraldo, UTL Adrian Pinto, 3B/SS Alex De Jesus, OF Will Robertson, OF Rafael Lantigua, OF Dasan Brown, OF Gabriel Martinez, LHP Adam Macko, RHP CJ Van Eyk, RHP Trent Palmer, RHP Dahian Santos, LHP Brandon Eisert
Nov. 17: Tender deadline
By this date, teams must determine which of their controllable players not signed to long-term deals they’re bringing back next season. When a team non-tenders a player, it means they’ve decided not to offer him a contract for next season, thus removing him from the 40-man roster and making him a free agent. A team can non-tender a player simply to clear a roster spot but usually, non-tenders occur when a player’s arbitration salary will exceed what the team wants to pay him.
The Blue Jays will have 13 players eligible for arbitration. The following are their projected salaries, as calculated by MLB Trade Rumors.
Adam Cimber ($3.2 million)
Trevor Richards ($2.4 million)
Danny Jansen ($5.2 million)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ($20.4 million)
Tim Mayza ($3.3 million)
Cavan Biggio ($3.7 million)
Erik Swanson ($2.7 million)
Jordan Romano ($7.7 million)
Génesis Cabrera ($1.4 million)
Santiago Espinal ($2.5 million)
Daulton Varsho ($5.5 million)
Alejandro Kirk ($2.6 million)
Nate Pearson ($800,000)
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Of those listed, Cimber might be the only player the Blue Jays take a hard look at, considering he missed most of the 2023 season with injuries. But, in baseball terms, $3.2 million isn’t a lot for an experienced reliever and if the Blue Jays believe Cimber can rediscover the upside he had in 2021 and 2022, he’ll stick around.
Dec. 3-6, 2023: Winter Meetings
The hot stove will be in full force by this time. Along with potential signings and trades, there are several events during the Winter Meetings, including the MLB Draft Lottery on Dec. 5. The Blue Jays are not eligible for the draft lottery because they qualified for the postseason.
On Dec. 6, the Rule 5 Draft will take place. Clubs can select eligible unprotected players from other clubs for a fee of $100,000. Selected players must immediately be added to the 40-man roster and during the regular season, they must remain on the 26-man roster all year (unless injured) or else be placed on outright waivers and offered back to their original team for $50,000. This year’s meetings will take place in Nashville, Tenn.
Jan. 12, 2024: Deadline to agree to contract with players eligible for arbitration
Players and teams have until this point to settle on one-year deals for the 2024 season. If a team and a player can’t agree on a salary by mid-January, then the two sides exchange figures and an arbitration hearing is scheduled for February.
As a file-and-trial team, the Blue Jays do not negotiate one-year deals once the figures are exchanged, but as we saw last year in Bo Bichette’s case, the club is open to negotiating a multi-year deal to avoid an arbitration hearing.
(Top photo of free-agent-to-be Matt Chapman: Rick Osentoski / USA Today)