The World Series ended last night with the Dodgers beating the Yankees in five games, meaning the MLB offseason is officially underway. Here are the important dates, free agent targets and decisions for the Braves you need to know.

MLB free agency

Technically, MLB free agency begins today and conversations have likely already started around the league. However, free agents cannot officially sign until November 4 at 5 p.m. ET. Here are some names to watch, broken down into categories based on their price this winter. I’ll also provide links to longer articles on all of these Braves free agency targets.

Marquee Braves free agency targets

• Max Frit
• Teoscar Hernández
• Antoine Santander
• Blake Snell
• Willy Adamès
• Tyler O’Neill

Draft: Five big-name free agency targets for the Braves

Braves free agency high, near-term upside targets

• Nick Pivetta
• Walker Bühler
• Tyler O’Neill

Draft: High-potential free agents who could become stars for the Brave

Under The Radar braves free agency targets

• Max Kepler
• Randal Grichuk
• Matthew Boyd

Write: You Under the Radar, Free Agency Targets for the Brave

MLB Options Deadline

Within five days of the World Series (November 4), the Braves must make a decision on all of their players with options for the 2025 season, which are listed below.

• Marcell Ozuna – $16 million option, $1 million buyout
• Aaron Bummer – $7.25 million option, $1.25 million buyout
• Travis d’Arnaud – $8 million option, no buyout
• Luke Jackson – $7 million option, $2 million buyout
• Whit Merrifield – $8 million option, $1 million buyout

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All of these decisions are pretty simple for Alex Anthopoulos. The Braves will pick up the options of Marcell Ozuna, Aaron Bummer and Travis d’Arnaud. They will not pick up the options of Luke Jackson and Whit Merrifield.

Eligible offers

Once again, November 4 is the deadline for teams to extend qualifying offers to their free agents. This is a one-year deal worth over $21 million through the 2025 season, but the bottom line here is that it protects the organization. If the player rejects the qualifying offer and signs elsewhere, the organization receives a compensatory draft pick. Players who receive a qualifying offer have until November 19 to accept or decline the offer.

The only impending Braves free agent who will receive a qualifying offer is Max Fried, who will surely reject the deal in search of a much longer and more lucrative contract, meaning the Braves will receive a compensatory draft pick. he signs elsewhere in free agency.

Arbitration candidates

Here are the Brave arbitration candidates and their projected salaries, courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors.

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If the Braves do not wish to retain any of these players, they may decide not to tender them a contract. The no-bid deadline is November 22.

In my opinion, the Braves will offer contracts to Jarred Kelenic, Dylan Lee and Huascor Ynoa. The rest will probably not be put out to tender. For those who are offered a contract, the Braves will attempt to negotiate a deal for next season before the mid-January deadline. If this deadline is reached without signing a contract, both parties will approach the arbitration court to determine the player’s salary for 2025.

Brave impending free agents

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The Braves don’t have many decisions to make on their own this offseason. Obviously, they would love to bring back Max Fried, but his price tag will determine whether that will be realistic. AJ Minter is another guy they would like to return, and Charlie Morton could be retained if he decides to play another season. The rest will likely find new housing or retire.

Draft Rule 5

The last important date of the offseason is the Rule 5 Draft, which takes place this year on December 11. This allows organizations with open spots on their 40-man roster to draft players from other organizations eligible for the Rule 5 Draft.

Organizations can protect players by putting them on their 40-man roster. Otherwise, any player signed at 18 or younger is eligible for Rule 5 after five seasons with the club, as well as any player signed at 19 or older after just four seasons.

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Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire