Primer: Here Is The Timeline of Atlanta's 2025 Offseason

The Atlanta Braves can now get back to the business of improving the roster as they look to return to the postseason in 2026

That was a fantastic World Series. Going seven games, and then that final game going to extra innings, couldn’t have been better if it were scripted. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who have now won back-to-back World Series championships and played in the Fall Classic five times in the last nine years, can rightfully be called a dynasty. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who pitched 2.2 innings in relief after a six-inning start the night before in game six, was rightfully named the World Series MVP after going 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA, the first pitcher to notch three wins in a single World Series since Hall of Famer Randy Johnson did it for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

But now that the World Series is out of the way, the offseason can officially get started. It already has, in fact - 9 AM Eastern on Sunday morning was the moment when all players with 2026 contracts became free agents, although they can’t sign for a few more days.

Let’s talk about the specific dates for all of Atlanta’s offseason decisions and moves, so that you’re aware of what is going to come next.

November

November 2nd: Players officially become free agents and Gold Glove winners are announced.

The first item on this list already happened, with Atlanta sending a quartet of players into free agency: designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, closer Raisel Iglesias, starter Charlie Morton, and reliever Connor Seabold.

The second item happens on Sunday night at 8:30 PM Eastern on MLB Network, with the league officially announcing the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove awards. The Braves have two nominees:

First base: Matt Olson, Spencer Steer of the Cincinnati Reds, Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies
Shortstop: Nick Allen, Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Masyn Winn of the St. Louis Cardinals.

I expect Olson to easily win the first base award, as his numbers in every possible defensive statistic dramatically outpace the competition.

Olson: +8 FRV (1st), +9 OAA (2nd), +17 DRS (1st)
Steer: +4 FRV (T-5th), +6 OAA (T-4th), +8 DRS (T-3rd)
Harper: -1 FRV (T-38th), +1 OAA (T-11th), -3 DRS (T-162)

Allen’s likely a runner-up, with Winn leading all NL shortstops with +21 OAA.

November 6th: Option and qualifying offer decisions are due, free agents are able to sign with any team, NL Silver Slugger awards announced¹

5 PM Eastern is the time to watch today. It’s the official start of free agency, meaning options decisions are due to the league office. Here’s the list of Atlanta’s decisions:

SP Chris Sale ($18M, club)
SS Ha-Seong Kim ($16M, player)
RP Pierce Johnson ($7M, club)
2B Ozzie Albies ($7M, club)
RP Tyler Kinley ($5.5M, club)
2B David Fletcher ($8M, club)

Fletcher’s clearly being declined, with the team electing to pay him the $1.5M buyout. It’s likely all the rest of the club options are picked up, although the Braves could decide to non-tender one of the relievers if they’re worried about stretching their payroll dollars.

Clearly, the big name to watch here is Ha-Seong Kim. It’s an open question as to whether or not he’ll pick up his player option, and if he does not, offseason priority number one for Atlanta will be to address the shortstop position, likely via re-signing Kim or a trade.

We’ll have a series of stories this week that discuss the three stated areas of need and my thoughts on each of them, as well as a Thursday story to kick off free agency with my idealized offseason, so stay tuned for a ton of content coming this week.

That 5 PM deadline also pertains to qualifying offers, although the Braves don’t project to offer a one-year, $22.025M contract to either of their eligible free agents (Ozuna and Iglesias).

The final item on the agenda on the 6th is the National League Silver Slugger awards being announced. Same as the Gold Glove finalists, the Braves have two names to watch here:

First base: Matt Olson, Pete Alonso of the New York Mets, Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers
Third base: Austin Riley, Matt Chapman of the San Francisco Giants, Manny Machado of the San Diego Padres, Max Muncy of the Los Angeles Dodgers

I honestly don’t expect either Olson or Riley to win this award.

November 10th-13th: General Manager meetings in Las Vegas, Nevada

Not many deals actually happen here, but it’s a chance for the executives to meet and lay groundwork for deals as well as address the media in attendance. Despite not being in Vegas this year (attendance is typically restricted to BBWAA members/official beat writers), we’ll be on the lookout for anything from Alex Anthopoulos that hits the wire.

November 10th: Rookie of the Year award winners are announced

As we discussed in the end of October, Braves catcher Drake Baldwin has a very good chance of winning Rookie of the Year, which would earn the Braves an additional draft pick after next summer’s first round thanks to the Prospect Promotion Incentive program. For more on what that would do to Atlanta’s draft pool for the draft, check out last Friday’s Braves Today podcast (that’s a timestamped link) for a breakdown of the financial implications of getting an additional Day One draft pick.

November 11th: Manager of the Year award winners are announced

November 12th: Cy Young award winners are announced

November 13th: MVP award winners, Reliever of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year and Hank Aaron award winners are announced. All-MLB teams revealed

The Braves have four finalists for the All-MLB team: Matt Olson at first base, Ronald Acuña Jr. in the outfield, Drake Baldwin at catcher, and Chris Sale at starting pitcher. The All-MLB First and Second Teams both include one selection at catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, third base and DH, as well as three outfielders, five starting pitchers and two relief pitchers. I don’t expect any Braves to make the first team, although second-team spots are a possibility for Chris Sale and Ronald Acuña Jr.

November 18th: Qualifying offer decisions, Rule 5 protection deadline

Free agents have until 4PM Eastern to decide if they’ll accept or decline their qualifying offer from their former teams. Those who reject the qualifying offer will cost the Braves their 2nd-highest draft pick and $500,000 from the team’s international bonus pool if Atlanta signs them to a contract.

The Rule 5 protection deadline is when the Braves need to add any Rule 5 eligible minor leaguers to the 40-man roster, lest they be exposed for the winter’s Rule 5 draft. The rule here is four years after being signed for any minor league player who entered the organization over the age of 18 and five years after being signed for any player who entered the organization under the age of 18.

Atlanta’s notable first-time eligibles that need a protection decision:

CI David McCabe
MI Ambioris Tavarez
SS E.J. Exposito
RHP Blake Burkhalter
RHP Ian Mejia
CF Kevin Kilpatrick
RHP Adam Maier

Of that list, Burkhalter is likely a lock and McCabe is likely the only difficult decision. We’ll break down the state of the 40-man roster ad the likelihood of protection for each player as we get closer to this date.

November 21st: Non-tender deadline

By 8 PM Eastern, any arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration players must either be tendered a contract offer or released; any player non-tendered is not exposed to waivers and immediately becomes a free agent, eligible to sign with any team.

It’s important to note that teams are not required to agree on salaries with these players, just to have tendered them a contract. Several non-tender candidates will, however, agree to lowered salaries to avoid being thrown into the free agent pool.

Atlanta’s list here is a doozy. Here’s the projected arbitration salaries of each Braves player, courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors:

Jake Fraley: $3.6MM
Joel Payamps: $3.4MM
Jose Suarez: $1.5MM
Alek Manoah: $2.2MM
Dylan Lee: $1.9MM
Eli White: $1.2MM
Vidal Brujan: $800K
Joey Wentz: $1.1MM
Nick Allen: $1.5MM

I honestly wish this and the Rule 5 deadline were together, just for ease of making decisions.

We wrote about the pending 40-man crunch for Atlanta last month and we’ll update with a new article as we get closer to the deadline, predicting what the team does with each player.

December

December 7th-10th: The Winter Meetings in Orlando, FL

Several scheduled events happen over the course of the Winter Meetings, as well as the usual trades and free agency discussions.

December 7th is the announcement of the Hall of Fame Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee voting. A 16-person panel will vote on eight candidates, usually announced in early November, and those who receive 12 or more votes from this panel are inducted. This year’s committee is considering players from 1980 forward who have no more remaining ballot eligibility, so Braves legend Dale Murphy is likely to be under consideration.

December 9th is the Draft Lottery. The Braves are currently sitting 6th in the odds for the #1 overall pick at 4.54%, and the selections of the first six spots in the 2026 MLB Draft will be made on a televised broadcast that evening.

December 10th is the Rule 5 Draft. Any player selected requires a $100,000 payment to their original team and must either remain on your MLB roster for the entire season or be offered back to their previous organization for $50,000 in compensation. The Braves shocked everyone by taking two players in the Major League portion of last year’s draft, reliever Anderson Pilar of the Miami Marlins and infielder Christian Cairo of the Cleveland Guardians. Both were returned to their teams at the end of spring training, but Pilar was released by Miami in August and signed a minor league deal with Atlanta.

December 15th: Final day of the 2025 International Free Agency signing period.

January

January 8th: Arbitration contract deadline

Arbitration-eligible players and teams who have not already reached a salary agreement by this date must present their arbitration figures for a hearing, to be scheduled in early February. While negotiation beyond this date is technically possible, almost every MLB team (including Atlanta) treats this as their final deadline under what’s known as a “file and trial” approach unless the player is signing a multi-year deal.

January 15th: International free agent signing period opens

This is the beginning of the next signing period for international amateurs, defined as players who have turned 16 years old before signing and reside outside of the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Players who are classified as ‘foreign professionals’, meaning they are at least 25 years old and have six seasons in a foreign league recognized by MLB, are exempt from this IFA system and fall under whatever signing arrangement the league has with their specific organization (for instance, the posting system with KBO in Korea or NPB in Japan).

January 21st: National Baseball Hall of Fame announcement

The Class of 2026 will be announced at 6 PM Eastern time on this day, as voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Former Braves centerfielder Andruw Jones, entering his 9th year of eligibility, is the likeliest Atlanta player to be inducted from the ballot. Another notable Brave is former outfielder Nick Markakis, in his first appearance. He’ll be required to receive 5% of the votes to carry over to year two.

February

February 11th: Pitchers and catchers begin reporting to spring camps

February 15th: Voluntary reporting date for position players

February 20th: Mandatory reporting date for all players; Spring Training games begin

1. The American League awards are being given out on the 7th