MLB sets qualifying offers
The price for a qualifying offer for eligible Major League Baseball free agents has been set, and it will be a one-year, $15.3-million-dollar offer, an 8.5 percent increase from the $14.1-million-dollar offer following the 2013 season.
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The qualifying offer is a relatively recent addition to MLB’s free agency, and can only be offered to an eligible free agent player who has spent the entire season in an organization. This distinction is important, as there are a few potential free agents who were traded midseason, meaning the club acquiring the player during the season cannot offer him a qualifying offer after the season. Notable players in this exception would include two pitchers who finished the season with the Oakland Athletics — Jon Lester and Jason Hammel.
MLB’s collective bargaining agreement outlines the price of the qualifying offer, determined by the average annual salary of the 125 largest contracts in the game. It was implemented after the 2012 season, when the offer was $13.3 million. If a player rejects the qualifying offer from a team, the team will receive a compensation draft pick at the end of the first round, when and if the player signs a Major League deal with a club before the MLB draft in June. The team signing the free agent will lose its first-round pick, unless the pick falls in the top 10 picks, in which case the team would lose its next-highest pick.
MLB teams have offered 22 qualifying offers since the offers inception in 2012, and no player has accepted the offer. One player, Kendrys Morales, waited until after June this season to sign with the Minnesota Twins, although they traded him back to his former team, the Seattle Mariners, at the trade deadline.
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