MLB General Managers Meetings: market quiet despite CBA deadline looming Dec. 1

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Baseball’s General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas ended with executives and agents leaving the Aria Resort and Casino on Thursday amid an approaching labour deadline: the Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1. With that clock ticking, many had expected the week to deliver a more urgent, Winter Meetings-style surge into free agency, but the overall market pace appeared uneven as teams headed home.

The prevailing takeaway from multiple executives described in MLB’s recap was that there was “a lot of talk” about making moves quickly, but “there wasn’t a ton of action.” According to the same reporting, the market’s visible activity consisted of only a small number of signings during the week, even as major names continued to be discussed without clear momentum toward agreements.

Among the transactions cited were Evan Phillips’ three-year, $35 million deal with the Braves, Emilio Pagán’s one-year, $11.5 million contract with the Tigers, and Ryan Weiss receiving $1.85 million for one year from the Padres. Beyond those reported moves, the recap indicated that several of the highest-profile free agents—including Tarik Skubal, Seiya Suzuki, Teruaki Sato, Randy Arozarena, Michael King and Freddy Peralta—did not appear closer to signing than they were when executives arrived in Las Vegas.

The most consistent expectation highlighted in MLB’s summary was that Skubal is the focus of the remaining negotiations. MLB’s recap reports that “nearly everybody in the game expects Skubal to sign with the Mets,” even while acknowledging other teams are involved. Those alternative suitors named include the Dodgers, Blue Jays and Padres, with the Mets described as having both the need and the financial means to pursue the two-time American League Cy Young Award winner.

The same recap outlined how other teams may approach Skubal in contract structure. It reports that the Dodgers prefer a shorter-term deal with a higher average annual value, patterned in the way Kyle Tucker’s four-year, $240 million contract signed last winter was structured. By contrast, the recap says Skubal is not interested in that kind of deal, instead preferring a long-term agreement that would keep him in the same locale into the next decade.

In the case of Toronto, the recap says the Blue Jays will “take a serious look at Skubal,” reflecting how they evaluate nearly every marquee free agent. It also notes that if discussions come down to a bidding war, it would be difficult for Toronto to top the Mets. For San Diego, MLB’s recap reports expressed interest while also indicating a strategy that may involve spreading available funds rather than making one large splash, given the broader needs described around rebuilding pitching depth.

MLB’s summary also addressed the rest of the broader starting-pitching market that could benefit if teams do not land Skubal. It reports that the Cubs are expected to pursue rotation help, with nearly all of their rotation on the free-agent market—creating a likelihood of targeting multiple arms rather than centring the offseason around one pitcher. The recap further suggests Skubal could receive a lengthy deal spanning seven to 10 years, while other top starters—named as Michael King, Freddy Peralta, Clay Holmes and Trevor Rogers—could find multi-year contracts of at least three years.

For older starters still available, MLB’s recap points to an over-35 group that may still land multi-year arrangements, citing Sonny Gray (37), Kevin Gausman (36) and Nick Martinez (36) as examples. It also characterizes the remaining top of the starting pitching class as leaning toward short-term commitments at this stage of the market, reporting that executives described one- or two-year “appetites” for starting pitchers, rather than longer terms.

A final theme in MLB’s recap was the idea of teams “claying the groundwork” during the General Managers Meetings. MLB’s summary says three front office executives used that phrase to describe their respective weeks, while still noting that the expectation remains that many free agents should sign prior to the expiration of the CBA. At the same time, the recap emphasizes that it remains unclear whether a more meaningful wave of contracts begins in the coming week or continues to build toward the wire as Dec. 1 approaches.

With the CBA expiration now explicitly shaping the timeline, the immediate consequence for the market is likely a two-track offseason: limited movement so far in the free-agent window, alongside continued negotiation activity that could escalate sharply once teams finalize contract terms and league-wide labour status reaches its deadline. MLB’s recap ends on that looming sense of acceleration, describing expectations that the next stretch of days could become “a crazy couple of weeks.”