The Yankees and the 2022-23 Offseason Calendar

The Astros are the 2022 World Series champions and the offseason is here. This will be the first “normal” offseason in a few years. Last offseason was cut into two halves by the lockout and the offseason before that was mid-pandemic, when no one knew its long-term financial impact on the sport (everyone got rich anyway). The Yankees have been in offseason mode for two weeks now, but the offseason officially begins Sunday. Here is the offseason calendar and a look at what each date means for the Yankees.

Today, Nov. 6th: Free agency begins

Eligible players (6+ years of service time) became free agents at 9am ET this morning. MLB used to make players file for free agency, which was a waste of time, so now they automatically become free agents the day after the World Series. The Yankees have nine free agents: Andrew Benintendi, Zack Britton, Matt Carpenter, Miguel Castro, Aroldis Chapman, Marwin Gonzalez, Chad Green, Aaron Judge, and Jameson Taillon. Some are more vital than others.

Monday, Nov. 7th: Awards finalists announced

Are they really “finalists” if there’s no second vote? Or are they just the top three vote-getters? Whatever. Judge will be an AL MVP finalist and maybe – maybe – Aaron Boone sneaks into the top three for AL Manager of the Year. Otherwise that’s it. No other Yankees will be finalists for a major award this year.

Nov. 8th to 10th: GM Meetings in Las Vegas

The GM Meetings typically cover off-the-field matters (I imagine pitchers thumbing their nose at the foreign substance policy and spin rates shooting back up will be on the agenda) but when you put the heads of 30 baseball operations departments in one place, deals get made. The Yankees made the Aaron Hicks trade at the GM Meetings back in the day. The groundwork for the three-team Curtis Granderson/Ian Kennedy/Max Scherzer trade was laid at the GM Meetings, then the trade was completed a few weeks later.

Thursday, Nov. 10th: Options, qualifying offers, free agency

Thursday will be a very busy day. Let’s go through each event individually.

Contract Options: Most contract options are due five days after the end of the World Series. Some contracts stipulate a different date (the Yankees had to decide on Britton’s 2022 option in Nov. 2020), but most are due five days after the World Series ends. The Yankees have two contract options to deal with this winter:

• Anthony Rizzo: Can opt out of $16M salary for 2023.
• Luis Severino: $15M club option with $2.75M buyout.

Brian Cashman said the Yankees will pick up Severino’s option during his end-of-season press conference Friday. It’s not official yet but it will happen. “Yes. I mean, I haven’t talked to anybody about it yet, but he’s a really impactful pitcher, so the answer to that would be an easy yes,” Cashman said when asked whether they’ll pick up Severino’s option (video).

I expect Rizzo to use his opt out. The Yankees can always re-sign him, though I think he’ll opt out and seek a larger payday. At minimum, Rizzo will try to leverage the opt out into an extension the way Chapman and CC Sabathia did a few years ago. Severino’s coming back and we’re awaiting official word on Rizzo’s opt out.

Qualifying offers: Teams have until five days after the end of the World Series to tender their eligible players the $19.65M qualifying offer. Judge will definitely get a qualifying offer and Rizzo will get one as well if he opts out. Taillon may get one too. No one else will. This is only the deadline for teams to make the qualifying offer. Players then have 10 days to accept or reject.

Injured list activation: There is no injured list in the offseason and players must be activated within five days of the end of the World Series. The Yankees have five players on the 60-day injured list: Britton, Green, Luis Gil, Michael King, and Stephen Ridings. Aaron Hicks and Scott Effross were never put on the injured list following their postseason-ending injuries. They were just left off the postseason roster.

The Yankees currently have 45 players on the 40-man roster and nine players will become free agents after the season, getting the Yankees down to 36 players on the 40-man. Rizzo opting out will open another spot, and Tim Locastro can be dropped to open another spot. The Yankees will have plenty of 40-man space to activate their 60-day injured list guys.

Free agency begins: The five-day exclusive negotiating period ends and free agents will be free to sign with any team as of 5pm ET on Thursday. I expect the Yankees to re-sign Judge but I absolutely do not expect it to happen during the exclusive negotiating period. He seems very willing to test free agency, and when you’ve come this far, why not see what the market has to offer?

“No way Judge signs in that window,” an agent told Sweeny Murti recently. “I’d be absolutely floored by that. That would almost be malpractice. You don’t get five days from hearing what the market has to say regarding your value – especially as a first time free agent, especially one of his stature – and preempt that.”

Thursday, Nov. 10th: Silver Sluggers announced

The Yankees have four Silver Slugger finalists: Judge, Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, and Giancarlo Stanton. LeMahieu is a finalist at second base and the new super utility position. He could win at two positions! He won’t because Jose Altuve will win at second base, but he could.

Nov. 14th to 17th: Awards week

Rookies of the Year on Monday, Managers of the Year on Tuesday, Cy Youngs on Wednesday, and MVPs on Thursday. Judge will win AL MVP and that’ll be it for the Yankees this awards season. Nestor Cortes and Gerrit Cole could get down-ballot AL Cy Young support and Boone will probably catch a few stray AL Manager of the Year votes. Anything more would be a mild surprise.

Tuesday, Nov. 15th: Rule 5 Draft protection deadline

Here are the notable Yankees prospects who are Rule 5 Draft eligible this offseason:

• Catchers: Josh Breaux, Antonio Gomez, Anthony Seigler
• Infielders: Andres Chaparro, Jesus Bastidas, Alex Vargas
• Outfielders: Anthony Garcia, Ryder Green, Brandon Lockridge
• Righties: Juan Carela, Yorlin Calderon, Jhony Brito, Zach Greene, Barrett Loseke, Matt Sauer, Mitch Spence, Randy Vasquez, Tyrone Yulie
• Lefties: Edgar Barclay, Matt Krook, Matt Minnick

The Yankees traded T.J. Sikkema, Ken Waldichuk, and Hayden Wesneski at the deadline, which cleared the 40-man roster logjam. Breaux, Krook, Lockridge, and Sauer were all Rule 5 Draft last offseason, but there was no Rule 5 Draft because of the lockout, so they remained in the organization and are eligible again this winter.

I need to do a proper Rule 5 Draft protection preview at some point before the protection deadline. I think Vasquez is the only slam dunk in that group. A few others have strong cases to be added to the 40-man roster (Brito, Chaparro, Krook, Seigler, etc.), but Vasquez is the only one who will be added without a doubt.

Friday, Nov. 18th: Non-tender deadline

Much earlier than usual! The non-tender deadline was Dec. 2nd for as long as I can remember. I don’t know why MLB and the MLBPA moved it up, but they did, and I like it. Non-tendered players now have more time to look for a job and teams can get going with their offseasons. No more waiting around to see who becomes available in early December.

Anyway, this is the deadline for teams to offer their pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players contracts for 2023. They don’t have to sign them by this deadline, but they do have to offer them contracts. The Yankees have 14 arb-eligible players this offseason and Locastro is the only obvious non-tender candidate. He could be dropped from the roster well before this date too.

One player I wonder about: Deivi Garcia. He had another dreadful season (6.89 ERA and 5.75 FIP between Double-A and Triple-A) and is out of minor league options, so it’s MLB or waivers next year. A non-tender would get Deivi off the 40-man roster without exposing him to waivers, then the Yankees could attempt to re-sign him to a minor league contract. The Yankees did this with Slade Heathcott and a few others in the past. We’ll see.

Sunday, Nov. 20th: Qualifying offer decisions due

Judge will surely reject the qualifying offer and I assume Rizzo will as well. If he opts out of his contract, it means he’s looking for a multi-year payday, not a measly $3.65M raise in 2023. Taillon is an interesting case. He’s not a lock to get a qualifying offer to start with, but if he does, Taillon just might take it. Could be a “make your best offers quick or I’m taking the qualifying offer” situation.

As a team that paid luxury tax this past season, the Yankees will receive a compensation draft pick after the fourth round if they lose a qualified free agent. They’ll give up their second and fifth highest draft picks, as well as $1M in international bonus money, to sign a qualified free agent.

Monday, Nov. 21st: Hall of Fame ballot released

Here are the players eligible for the 2023 Hall of Fame ballot. This is not the day the voting results are announced. This is the day the ballot itself will be revealed. The screening committee goes through the first time eligible players and picks who will appear on the ballot, then announces it to the public. Jeff Kent is the only player entering his tenth and final year on the ballot.

As for notable first timers, it’s Carlos Beltran and that’s really it. Jacoby Ellsbury, John Lackey, and Jered Weaver are the best of the rest. Andy Pettitte (fifth year) and Alex Rodriguez (second) are the most prominent Yankees on the ballot, though Gary Sheffield (ninth) and Bobby Abreu (fourth) are on the ballot too.

Dec. 5th to 8th: Winter Meetings in San Diego

The Winter Meetings are typically when all hot stove hell breaks loose. The offseason’s biggest signings and trades tend to happen at the Winter Meetings, plus there are an endless supply of rumors. The Yankees’ last major Winter Meetings move was signing Gerrit Cole in 2019, though to be fair to them, there were no Winter Meetings last offseason because of the lockout.

Wednesday, Dec. 7th: Rule 5 Draft

For some reason the Rule 5 Draft is Wednesday during the Winter Meetings this year, not Thursday. Not sure what that’s about.

Anyway, the Yankees lose a few players in the Rule 5 Draft every year and it hadn’t burned them until two years ago, when they lost Garrett Whitlock and Trevor Stephan. In their defense, that was the offseason following the canceled minor league season, so no one had seen those guys in a game in over a year. Players slipped through the cracks that offseason and it was one of the most productive Rule 5 Drafts ever. So it goes.

The Yankees will probably have another few players taken this year. Will they make a Rule 5 Draft pick themselves? Probably not. They haven’t made one since taking Cesar Cabral and Brad Meyer in 2011, but it looks like they might have a smidgen of 40-man roster flexibility this winter. The 40-man was overstuffed the last few years and making a Rule 5 Draft pick wasn’t possible. If nothing else, the Yankees making a Rule 5 Draft pick is somewhat plausible this offseason.

Friday, Jan. 13th: Arbitration filing deadline

The deadline for teams and their arb-eligible players to file salary figures for next season. The player files what he believes he should be paid and the team files what they believe he should be paid. This is just the filing deadline and the two sides can still work out a contract of any size after this date. The vast majority of arb-eligible players sign before this date. Judge last offseason is the only Yankee to file salary figures in the last three offseasons. The Yankees got everyone else signed before the filing deadline. They have 14 arb-eligible players this winter.

Sunday, Jan. 15th: International signing period opens

The international signing period used to run from July 2nd to June 25th each year, but MLB and the MLBPA pushed start of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 signing periods back to Jan. 15th because of the pandemic, and now the Jan. 15th start date is permanent. The international signing period is now neatly confined to a single calendar year.

Bonus pools for next year’s signing period haven’t been reported yet. They were held flat from 2019-21 because of the pandemic, but they’re expected to increase next year. The Yankees had a $5.2M pool last offseason, so a slight bump gets them to what, $5.5M to $6M this year? We’ll find out soon enough. The Yankees are expected to sign Cuban outfielder Brando Mayea when the signing period opens. He’s one of the top prospects available.

Tuesday, Jan. 24th: Hall of Fame class announced

Decent chance no players get voted into the Hall of Fame this year. Scott Rolen had the highest voting percentage last year among holdovers on the ballot (63.2%) and Beltran is the only first timer with a chance at induction. David Ortiz was the only player voted in last year and no one was voted in the year before. A three-year span with only one player getting voted in is possible.

Jan. 30th to Feb. 17th: Arbitration hearings

If the team and player can’t agree to a contract, they’ll argue their cases in front of a three-person arbitration panel, and the panel will pick either the salary the player filed or the salary the team filed. Nothing in-between. The two sides can continue to negotiate a contract up until a hearing, and heck, they can even rip up the panel’s ruling and agree to a contract after a hearing, though that’s extremely rare.

The Yankees last went to an arbitration hearing with Dellin Betances in 2017. Before that, their last hearing was with Chien-Ming Wang in 2008. The Yankees and Judge were minutes away from a hearing earlier this year (Judge said he was logged into the Zoom call for his hearing when they got his contract done), but I would bet against the Yankees going to a hearing this offseason. Both sides try to avoid one and they usually do.

Mid-February: Spring Training begins

The Yankees open their Grapefruit League schedule with a road game against the Phillies on Sunday, Feb. 25th. They haven’t announced their reporting dates yet, but pitchers and catchers typically report 10 days before the first exhibition game, so figure Wednesday, Feb. 15th. Position players will then report 4-5 days later.

Here is the 32-game Spring Training schedule. The Spring Training schedule returns to normal next year. Two years ago they played in those little 4-5 team pods to limit travel during the pandemic and last year Spring Training was condensed because of the lockout. They’re back to a normal Grapefruit League schedule with travel all over Florida to play all the other teams.

March 8th to 21th: World Baseball Classic

The World Baseball Classic returns next spring. USA won the last WBC in 2017 and there was supposed to be a WBC in 2021, but it got pushed back because of the pandemic. The field has been expanded to 20 teams this year. Here are the pools:

The Championship Game is scheduled for March 21st at Marlins Park. I’ve always enjoyed the WBC, especially the first few days of pool play when players from non-traditional baseball countries are trying to make a name for themselves. Yeah, the rest of Pool C will probably mop the floor with Great Britain, but maybe they can pull off an upset or at least make another team sweat.

Rosters are weeks away from being finalized and several big names have already committed to USA. No Yankees yet though. It’s not just stars like Judge who could go. It’s also guys like Oswaldo Cabrera (Venezuela), Domingo German (Dominican Republic), Jonathan Loaisiga (Nicaragua), Wandy Peralta (Dominican Republic), etc. A few Yankees will play in the WBC. I’m sure of it. We just don’t know who yet.

Thursday, March 30th: Opening Day!

The Yankees will open next season at home against the Giants. Pretty good chance Judge will be there. What uniform will he be wearing? I can’t say for certain. MLB is introducing a new, more balanced schedule next season. Every team will play every other team at least once. No more rotating interleague play. Here’s the new schedule format:

• 56 games within division: That's 14 games with each of the other four AL East teams, down from 19 now. Each team will play four series (one three-gamer and and one four-gamer, one set at home and one on the road) against intradivision rivals.
• 60 games against rest of league: Three at home and three on the road against the other 10 teams in the American League. That's more or less what we have now, though there are a few four-game series each year.
• 4 games against interleague "rivals": For the Yankees, that’s two at home and two on the road against the Mets.
• 42 other interleague games: Against the other 14 teams in the other league, each team will play one three-game series per year, and they’ll alternate home and road. The Giants come to Yankee Stadium to begin 2023. The Yankees will then go to San Francisco at some point in 2024.

I like the new schedule format. Maybe I’ll hate it when I see it in action, but I like it now. It’s more balanced and thus more fair, plus I think it’s good that, for example, baseball fans in Pittsburgh don’t have to wait three years (sometimes six!) to see Shohei Ohtani. Rotating interleague was one of those weird things that never made sense to me. This is better. Only five months until Opening Day.