On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick details the key dates and deadlines for the San Francisco Giants' 2021-22 offseason. Things kick off with a five-day window during which time teams and players must make decisions on options and opt-outs, and teams must decide who among their eligible players to tag with the qualifying offer. The Giants hold club options over Buster Posey, Johnny Cueto, Wilmer Flores, and José Álvarez, and Ben expects the Giants to pick up the options for all but Cueto. Posey is a possible extension candidate, and there is a possibility he could choose to retire. The club also must decide whether to tag Brandon Belt, Anthony DeSclafani, and Alex Wood (the only three realistic candidates) with the one-year, $18.4M qualifying offer.

Once the deadline for all of that activity passes on Sunday, free agency officially kicks off on Monday, Nov. 8. Ten days from Nov. 7, players must decide whether to accept or reject teams' qualifying offers. Two days later, on Nov. 19, teams must add eligible players to their 40-man roster if they want to protect them from selection in the Rule 5 Draft, which is scheduled to take place in early December. The Giants have several of their better prospects eligible for selection, including Heliot Ramos, Sean Hjelle, and Seth Corry.

The biggest deadline of all comes on Dec. 1 at 11:59 PM Eastern, when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire. If MLB and the MLBPA don't reach an agreement on a new CBA by that time, the league may institute a lockout and a transactions freeze. All major-league dates and deadlines thereafter could be put on hold until a new CBA agreement is reached. That would affect the tender deadline, free agency, trades, and the Winter Meetings.

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