Important 2026-2027 offseason dates

With 2026 baseball officially behind us, and so much speculation and insecurity around 2027 baseball, we are now entering that liminal space between seasons that may wind up lasting far longer than any of us would like. We will be with you throughout all of it, however long it lasts, and to begin the official offseason coverage, we're going to take a look at some important dates for the Mets and Major League Baseball as a whole.

At the end of the season, the Mets had zero (0) free agents. Every single player that was due to hit free agency today was traded (or claimed off waivers) during the season. And so the 9am deadline came and went without any Mets activity at all.

In terms of the internal machinations, the Mets have no Qualifying Offers to issue. The Mets currently have three players on the 60-day Injured List who will need to rejoin the 40-Man roster (Tylor Megill, Reed Garrett, and Jorge Polanco). Bo Bichette is the only Met with a player option, so he will have to make a decision about his future in Queens by Monday evening.

With the lockout expected to begin less than a month from now, look for free agency to happen quite quickly.

These are usually fairly tame, in terms of trades and signings, compared to the Winter Meetings, but with those in question, look for the GM meetings to be a hotbed of activity.

Deadline for players to accept the Qualifying Offer, 4 pm ET

Rule 5 protection deadline (Players need to be added to 40-man roster to protect from the Rule 5 draft)

With the Mets needing to add some minor leaguers to their 40-man roster, expect a flurry of releases and trades to make some room before this deadline. Our Lukas Vlahos did a great job of outlining where the Mets' roster stands at the end of the season.

Expect to see a lot of cigars lit with $100 bills and other signs of excess while crying poverty.

See the note about the Rule 5 deadline above.

CBA Expires 11:59 pm ET – Lockout begins

This is the big one; even if things go better than any of us expect, there will likely still be a lockout starting on December 1st.

December 7-9 : Winter Meetings in San Diego

January 8 : Arbitration Figures Exchanged

The Winter Meetings almost certainly won't happen, and the others in this category will be postponed until the lockout ends.

This will be the only real activity between the lockout's beginning and end.

The Mets have three players – Luis Torrens, Nolan McLean, and Carson Benge – who are Gold Glove finalists. The award announcements will be exclusively revealed via ESPN at 9pm EST.

HOF eight-person Contemporary Baseball Era ballot for managers, executives and umpires Silver Slugger Award finalists announced – 2 pm ET

The Mets look to have at least one Rookie of the Year candidate, but seem unlikely have any finalists in any other categories (Cy Young, MVP, Manager of the Year). These will be announced on an MLB Network broadcast from 6pm-8pm.

Heart & Hustle Awards announced – TBD – MLB Network Gold Glove Awards dinner in NYC – Platinum Glove winners announced

Rookie of the Year – 7-8 pm ET (MLB Network)

It seems likely that Carson Benge and/or Nolan McLean get votes in the Rookie of the Year category, with Benge being the Met frontrunner.

Manager of the Year – 7-8 pm ET (MLB Network)

The Mets had two managers this year and neither seems likely to grab any votes here.

Cy Young Awards and BBWAA relievers of year – 7-8 pm ET (MLB Network)

MLB Awards show – 9-11pm ET (MLB Network)

Mariano Rivera & Trevor Hoffman relievers of year Edgard Martinez DH of year

I suppose there is a chance that a Met picks up an honor on the first or second team, but that seems like the only likely Mets action here.

In what world would a 2026 Mets be an MVP candidate?

Hall of Fame announces its 2027 ballot, 12 pm ET – Writer's ballot

Bobby Abreu, David Wright, and Francisco Rodriguez will all be on this ballot, with potential ex-Mets Asdrubal Cabrera, Todd Frazier, and Jay Bruce potentially looking at debuts on the ballot.

BBWAA announces Contemporary Baseball Era inductees

Hall of Fame announces BBWAA voting results & 2007 inductees, 6 p ET (MLB Network)