San Francisco Giants: Important Offseason Dates to Remember

The 2018-19 offseason is officially underway for Major League Baseball, and the San Francisco Giants have a lot of work to do this winter.

With the World Series finally behind us, and the Dodgers once again choking on the big stage, the San Francisco Giants can begin their pursuit towards a championship in 2019.

Or at least, we think they are going to pursue a championship in 2019. First, they need to decide who their general manager is going to be, and then what direction that GM wants to take the franchise.

Even so, the offseason rolls on whether we have a GM in place or not.

Most teams and players have already made a decision on whether to pick up their option years for 2019. Clayton Kershaw and David Freese are the exceptions as they’ll wait till Friday.

The next big date is November 2 when teams have to decide whether or not to extend a qualifying offer of $17.9 million to impending free agents.

I seriously doubt the San Francisco Giants are going to offer any of their impending free agents a qualifying offer this year.

Derek Holland and Nick Hundley are the only two free agents I’d like to possibly see come back, but they made $2.5 and $1.75 million respectively last year, so offering them $17.9 million seems a bit preposterous.

But, this is important for free agents that the San Francisco Giants might target this winter. Because any team who signs a player that declined a qualifying offer would lose a draft pick.

On November 3 free agency will begin as any free agent can sign with any team at that point — up until that point, teams have a small window to negotiate with impending free agents.

Gold Glove winners will be announced on November 4 with Buster Posey and Brandon Belt as finalists.

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The General Manager Meetings take place November 6-8, so you kind of hope the Giants have a GM in place by then.

Free agents have until November 12 to accept or decline the qualifying offer.

The major awards (Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP) are announced between November 12-15.

Teams have until November 20 to add players to their 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. Players eligible are college players drafted no later than 2015, or high school players drafted no later than 2014 that are not on a team’s 40-man roster. That also goes for international players signed no later than 2014.

The San Francisco Giants will certainly have a few players they have to make a decision on, and Around the Foghorn will have that list out this week.

Teams have to offer their pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players a contract by November 30. January 11 is the deadline for the players and team to agree upon a contract. If they can’t, arbitration hearings will begin on February 1.

The Winter Meetings will be held in Las Vegas this year December 9-13, with the Rule 5 Draft taking place on December 13.

Sometime in January, we will get the results for the 2019 Hall of Fame class — a ballot that will once again feature Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent.

And before you know it, pitchers and catchers will be reporting in mid-February.

As much fun as the regular season is, the MLB offseason has it’s moments as well, and I personally think it’s the best offseason in sports. Check back with Around the Foghorn throughout the postseason as we keep you updated with everything going on.