How does does the MLB qualifying offer work and what does it mean when a player gets one?
MLB Free Agency has officially begun, and one of the more confusing parts about it is the qualifying offer. The qualifying offer system was created back in 2012. Before then, there were “Type A” and “Type B” free agents in MLB free agency, depending on the player’s production. Each type of free agent required a specific amount of compensation. It was extremely complicated so the MLB decided to simplify things by evening out compensation for losing free agents by creating the qualifying offer.
What does it mean if a team offers a player a qualifying offer? It means that the player has two options. The player can either decline it (which everyone up to this point has done) or they can accept it. The value of the qualifying offer varies from year to year. It’s listed at $15,800,000 in 2015. The offer is for one season. Should the player decline the qualifying offer, the team will get a compensatory draft pick for losing that player. That pick is at the end of the first round.
How does the qualifying offer affect the team that signs the player? If a team signs a player who rejected a qualifying offer, they must forfeit a draft pick. The pick does not go to the team that lost the player. It simply shortens the round. Which round is the pick that they must forfeit? That depends on the draft order. If the team that signs the player has a protected first round pick (the first ten picks are protected), they must give up their second round pick. If the team doesn’t have a protected pick, it must give up its first round pick. What if a team signs more than one player with a qualifying offer? They must give up a pick in the next round in which they can surrender a pick.
There are some players who aren’t eligible to receive qualifying offers. Some players have it written in their contract. Yoenis Cespedes is a recent example of that. In order to receive a qualifying offer, the player must be on the team for the full season. So trade deadline acquisitions can’t be given a qualifying offer.
The qualifying offer serves to help teams replace lost players, but ironically, it tends to hurt some of the players who are given qualifying offers. Teams are reluctant to forfeit a draft pick to sign certain guys. It also has an indirect effect on the contract that they get. If a player who rejects a qualifying offer remains unsigned past the MLB draft, they no longer require that the team that signs them forfeit a draft pick to sign them. Stephen Drew came very close to meeting that requirement back in 2014.