The biggest offseason dates KC Royals fans should know

The task facing KC Royals general manager J.J. Picollo this winter — retooling and greatly improving his club's roster after a maddening 106-loss season — is daunting. Saddled with a lack of quality players he's willing to trade and who the Royals can afford to deal away without further delaying a return to contention, and a team checkbook principal owner John Sherman may not be quite ready to open wide, Picollo will have to work hard to make the Royals better than they've been for the past several years.

His options are these: build from within, which is always the club's stated preference, swing meaningful trades, sign good free agents, or mix and match between those three options.

But whatever methods Picollo chooses, he'll closely watch a baseball calendar chock full of critical dates and deadlines.

Here they are.

The 2023 World Series gets underway — Oct. 28

Don't expect Picollo to make any moves during this year's Fall Classic. The major league powers-that-be frown on and discourage creating major news while the Series is being played. But how long the Series lasts is vitally important to the offseason — not until it's over can clubs engage in much more than waiver transactions, DFA's, and releases.

The player markets open — 1 day after the World Series concludes

The off-field offseason fun begins almost as soon as the Series ends. The very next day, even while the new champions still celebrate, free agency opens, albeit with some short-term limitations, and clubs can begin making trades.

Moving on to more key dates...

The MLB General Manages meet in Arizona — Nov. 7-9

GM's from every big league franchise, including Picollo, are scheduled to meet in Scottsdale and confer about all things baseball. Unfortunately, though, these meetings aren't what they sometimes used to be. In former days, the confabs often produced in-meeting trades, signings, player news, and rumors; now, however, not as much action takes place, and officials use the days and nights primarily to lay groundwork for future deals.

40-man roster deadline for Rule 5 Draft purposes — Nov. 14

The Royals have until late afternoon to shield players from Rule 5 Draft exposure by adding them to the club's 40-man roster. If players who signed their first contracts when they were 18 or younger, and others who signed at 19 or older, aren't included on that roster within five or four years respectively, they're subject to being snatched up by other teams in December's Rule 5 Draft (more on that momentarily).

The major leagues' annual contract non-tender deadline — Nov. 17

Big league teams have until the Friday before Thanksgiving, in other words Nov. 17, to decide whether to give contracts to players on their 40-man rosters who aren't otherwise subject to continuing deals. Non-tendered players are declared free agents and can sign with any other club.

Non-tenders are frequently used to open up 40-man roster spots for Rule 5 Draft purposes; last year, the Royals non-tendered pitchers Nate Webb and Jake Brentz just before the deadline, but soon re-signed Brentz, who spent this season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and should be ready for next season.

And some more calendar items...

Baseball's annual Winter Meetings and Rule 5 Draft — Dec. 3-6

You're mistaken if you think November's General Managers Meeting is the only big get-together of baseball's winter. The Winter Meetings, to be staged next month in Nashville, encompass the major and minor leagues and, generally speaking, produce more news and activity than the GM confab. With the the free agent and trade markets open and the non-tender deadline in the past, clubs can focus on talking and making deals.

The Winter Meetings are also the venue for the Rule 5 Draft, which this year is scheduled for the Meetings' final day. Teams with incomplete 40-man rosters can draft other clubs' unprotected players.

"Deadline" for arbitration-eligible players to sign with their clubs — Jan. 12

Too many fans believe there's a hard deadline by which players eligible for arbitration must sign with their respective teams. No such deadline exists.

Instead, arbitration-eligible players and clubs who haven't agreed on the terms of new one-year deals, or multi-season contract extensions, on or before Jan. 12 are obligated to exchange proposed arbitration-resolving salaries for the 2024 campaign. Importantly, nothing prevents them from continuing to negotiate and reach settlements before arbitration hearings begin in February.

Only one player, pitcher Brady Singer, took the Royals to hearing last winter, but as many as eight — Singer, Carlos Hernández, Kris Bubic, Edward Olivares, Taylor Clarke, Taylor Hearn, Josh Staumont, and Josh Taylor — could if they and Kansas City can't cut deals. Of those eight, Kings of Kauffman's Jacob Milham recently identified three he projects will be non-tendered.

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