MLB offseason dates to remember

The San Diego Padres already have some holes to fill this winter and they could see some names come off the board later today when free agency begins. What does the rest of the offseason have in store? Here are some key dates to keep in mind all the way up to Opening Day:

November 6 at 2 p.m.: Free Agency officially opens

San Diego Padres free agents include: Ji-Man Choi, Rich Hill, Garrett Cooper, Luis Garcia, Josh Hader, Drew Pomeranz, Jurickson Profar, Gary Sanchez, Blake Snell, Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Nick Martinez

November 7-9: GM meetings in Arizona

This is where AJ Preller and other GMs will continue or start laying the groundwork for future moves that could happen this offseason, such as a Juan Soto trade.

November 9: Silver Sluggers announced

Juan Soto, Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado and Ha-Seong Kim are nominees.

November 14: Deadline for players to accept qualifying offers

Blake Snell and Josh Hader are likely going to be offered this one-year deal worth a little over $20 million but won’t accept.

November 17: Deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players

Padres arbitration-eligible players include: Juan Soto, Scott Barlow, Trent Grisham, Tim Hill, Austin Nola and Adrian Morejon

December 3-6: MLB Winter Meetings

This year’s Winter Meetings will be in Nashville. Preller seems always to be active during this week.

December 5: MLB Draft Lottery

December 6: Rule 5 Draft

January 12: Deadline for players, teams to exchange arbitration figures

February: Arbitration hearings take place

February 22: First spring training game

The Padres first spring training game is against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 22 games will follow.

March 20-21: First regular season games (Korea series)

Opening Day comes early for the Padres and Dodgers. They’ll play two games in Seoul before coming back to the United States for traditional Opening Day on March 28.