Reese Kaplan -- Set Your Offseason Baseball Calendar Now

As a former project manager schedules and task lists were always a way of life.  Structure helped improve the certainty that all necessary actions were taken in a sequence when it would make the most sense for related and connected decisions to be made optimally.  Towards that end it's a good time to review the Mets team calendar prior to the start of the 2024 baseball season.

The first important date to track is October 31st.  This particular date has a specific significance for the Mets in their theoretical pursuit of Craig Counsell as a new baseball manager.  It is on that date that his current contract with the Milwaukee Brewers expires.  If the head honchos in Wisconsin do not make him an amenable contract extension or he decides not to take a year off from managing to be with his family, it becomes open season to the highest bidder with the greatest opportunity for a veteran manager of 9 years who owns a 707-625 record with multiple appearances in the post season.  Surely the Mets wouldn't be the only team interested in hiring away this 53 year old successful skipper.

The next major deadline is set for November 4th which would coincide with the end of the World Series if it goes the full seven games.  At that time the off-season officially begins and It is when personnel decisions move from theory into actuality.  In the event that Counsell does not choose to come to New York, David Stearns needs to cast that wide net as he said in his press conference when hired into the Mets POBO role.  While there's no reason he cannot be interviewing potential candidates right now who are not under contract to postseason-alive teams, he cannot make the employment offers to them until this time.  Furthermore there is an unwritten rule about not usurping attention from the MLB playoffs and World Series, hence high profile announcements tend to be put on hold out of a sense of professionalism.  

Also coinciding with this date is the actual status change of prospective free agents into real ones.  They are free to begin to sell themselves to the highest bidder who might be interested in his services. 

Five days later on November 9th the Mets face another personnel deadline wherein 40-man roster decisions must be made regarding the players whose contracts include options.  Sometimes the options belong to the player.  Sometimes they belong to the ballclub.  Regardless, these types of decisions are not completely in the team's control but they must be made.

Coinciding with this timetable is the November 7th through 9th GM meetings taking place in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Now whether or not the Mets have a GM in hand or if David Stearns will represent the team himself or appoint someone to represent the Mets is still unknown.

The next important deadline is where major roster changes will be taking shape.  On November 17th the league draws a deadline for the 40-man roster decisions on ballplayers who have contract renewal yes or no questions which must be answered.  There are quite a few athletes who may have played their last game in a Mets uniform as the club seeks to build a younger core of players for the long term and the late 20s and early 30s fringe baseball personnel may not be a part of that blueprint.  

Then comes the December 4th through 7th Winter Meetings this year taking place in Music City, Nashiville.  While traditionally it is during this time that trades, free agent signings and other personnel decisions take place, they sometimes fall earlier or later.  Still, this half-week event draws media types like flies to honey to report on what might happen, what is happening and what isn't happening.

In the middle of this period on December 6th the annual Rule V draft of non-rostered players takes place.  While you don't usually hit home runs with immediate personnel decisions make at this time, it is interesting to see who is not protected on other rosters who could potentially help the Mets just as it is worth observing who the Mets expose to the draft while preserving 40-man roster spots for others they deem more valuable. 

Finally, just prior to the beginning of Spring Training comes the January 12th arbitration deadline for players who are eligible to submit their salary requirements to a binding arbiter who must decide between the number they desire and the one the team feels is more equitable. 

Yup, the off season is a busy one and when it involves a GM, a manager, player options, 40-man roster renewal decisions, the Rule V draft, GM and Winter baseball meetings and arbitration, it's filled with plenty of speculative narrative for fans of all franchises.