The Diamondbacks 2021-22 Off-Season is going to be busy, know the important dates to give yourself an edge on what to expect!
This off-season is shaping to be unlike any other in recent MLB history. There’s so much that can happen from an enormous amount of stars that are free agents to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) needing to be worked out to the Diamondbacks potentially selling more players, to filling out the rest of the coaching staff.
If you’ve been a fan of baseball for a while or just starting out, there are some very important dates to remember/watch for on the calendar when it comes to the MLB and what happens. Below is a list of the dates and why each date is significant. We have entered Free Agency and anything can happen now!
Important Dates of the Diamondbacks off-season!
November 8th, 2021: Free Agency officially Begins
November 8th-11th, 2021: The General Managers’ Meetings taking place in Carlsbad, CA take place. This is where Mike Hazen will be hopefully laying some groundwork to improve the Diamondbacks.
November 15-18th, 2021: The Major Awards are handed out to the players.
November 17th, 2021: The deadline for players that were tagged with a Qualifying Offer to either accept or reject it. 14 players were tagged with it, including Robbie Ray, but no current Dbacks players were tagged it.
November 19th, 2021: The deadline for teams to add players to their 40-Man Roster to keep them from being selected in the MLB Rule 5 Draft. The Diamondbacks have many important decisions to make, including on whether they protect prospect Kristian Robinson from being selected or not. The team’s roster is full at 40 players right now.
December 1st, 2021 @ 11:59 PM: The expiration of the current CBA will expire and thus institute a potential lockout where no free agency, trades, or any moves involving players may occur. This can be avoided if the Owners/MLB and the Player’s Union/MLBPA can agree to a new CBA or not.
December 2nd, 2021: If the CBA expiration is avoided and the two sides agree to a new CBA. Depending on whether or not the new CBA changes anything related to arbitration. This day is the deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players. Two off-seasons ago, this is when the team lost Taijuan Walker and Steven Souza Jr. To find out the team’s current arbitration-eligible players, click here!
December 6th-9th, 2021: This is when the Winter Meetings will occur, which take place this year in Orlando, Florida. This is considered the most active time of the off-season as many trades and signings occur at these meetings.
December 8th, 2021: The MLB Rule 5 Draft happens during the Winter Meetings where a team can select a minor leaguer from another team that meets specific criteria during a draft. This is how the Dbacks got Tyler Gilbert, only they got him in the MILB version of the Rule 5 Draft.
December 15th, 2021: Today is the day that concludes the International Amateur Signing Period. This is the last day for teams to sign a player from another country until 2022.
January 14th, 2022: This date signifies that it is the last day for teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange contract offers before going to court in February. Now, teams can still negotiate with those players beyond this date to reach a contract and to avoid a court proceeding. However, plenty of clubs do just take a “file and trial” approach and refuse to negotiate with players beyond this point. So far, GM Mike Hazen does not take that approach.
January 15th, 2022: This day represents the start of the 2021-22 International Amateur Signing Period. It will run through December 15th, 2022. Along with this day comes a new budget for teams to sign players off of.
February, 26th, 2022: Spring Training is BACK! The first glimpse of a new season begins!
As always,
May the Force be with You…