The deadline to accept the qualifying offer (4 p.m. ET) came and went Tuesday, and with that, Pete Alonso, Sean Manaea and Luis Severino remain free agents as expected after rejecting the one-year, $21.05 million offer.
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Thirteen players received the QO, and the only one to accept was Reds starting pitcher Nick Martinez.
The other nine who rejected it were: Willy Adames, Alex Bregman, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Teoscar Hernández, Nick Pivetta, Anthony Santander, Juan Soto and Christian Walker. There are multiple names on that list the Mets have shown early interest in.
Any team that loses a player who was given the QO gets draft pick compensation while clubs that acquire a player who rejected the deal incur penalties. The compensation/penalties vary depending on a team’s financial status. The Mets are one of nine clubs that is a competitive balance tax payor, which means they will gain a draft pick after the fourth round is completed if Alonso, Manaea or Severino go elsewhere.
If the Mets sign a player from another team who rejected a QO, they will lose their second- and fifth-highest draft picks along with $1 million in international bonus pool money. If the Mets sign two more more players who received a QO, they lose their third- and sixth-best draft picks as well.
Players who received a QO in previous seasons (such as Blake Snell, Marcell Ozuna and Justin Verlander) or switched teams during the season (Jesse Winker, Jack Flaherty and Tanner Scott) are ineligible for the offer.
The system was put in place in 2012 and Martinez became the 14th player to take the deal. The value of the contract is set by the average of the top 125 MLB salaries.
