Important dates for Pirates fans to know in the 2024-25 MLB offseason

The Pittsburgh Pirates' season ended over a month ago, but now that the Los Angeles Dodgers have been crowned the 2024 World Series champions, the MLB offseason has officially commenced.

Even though no baseball will be played in Pittsburgh for the next several months, plenty of action will be happening off the field as general manager Ben Cherington and the rest of the Pirates' front office get to work on building a roster that can (hopefully) be competitive in 2025. With that in mind, here are some important offseason dates that Pirates fans should know.

Important dates for Pirates fans to know in the 2024-25 MLB offseason

Qualifying offer deadline (November 4, 2024)

Five days after the World Series concludes, teams must decide whether or not to extend a qualifying offer to impending free agents. The Pirates are not expected to extend qualifying offers to any free agents, but they will need to make a decision on whether to pick up Marco Gonzales' $15 million club option by this date as well. It should be a pretty easy "no," considering Pittsburgh's penny-pinching reputation and the fact that Gonzales is set to miss most, if not all, of the 2025 season recovering from forearm surgery.

Non-tender deadline (November 22, 2024)

Clubs have until Nov. 22 to decide whether or not to tender a contract to any player with fewer than six years of MLB service time. In the Pirates' case, this includes players like Daulton Jeffries, Connor Joe, Alika Williams, Liover Peguero, Ji Hwan Bae and Joshua Palacios, all of whom could be considered potential candidates to be non-tendered or even traded in order to create roster space.

MLB Winter Meetings (December 8-11, 2024)

This year's MLB Winter Meetings will be held from Dec. 8-11 in Dallas, Texas, where player agents and front office executives come together to discuss potential trades, free agent deals, contract extensions and more. Expect a lot of wheeling and dealing to happen here.

The Rule 5 Draft also happens during Winter Meetings, scheduled this year for Dec. 6. The Pirates don't have as many Rule 5 decisions to make this year after adding Billy Cook and Nick Yorke to their roster in September, but they have some eligible prospects like Sammy Siani, Matt Gorski and Omar Alfonzo who will need to be added to the roster by Nov. 19 if the team intends to protect them.

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training (February 2025)

Pirates pitchers and catchers will report to LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla., in early February to begin preparations for Spring Training, which officially begins Feb. 20 with an exhibition game between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Pirates are scheduled to see their first Grapefruit League action on Feb. 22 with a matchup against the Baltimore Orioles. Spring Training will continue over the next several weeks until the Pirates head to Miami for their 2025 Opening Day matchup against the Marlins.

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