It was interesting to see three players accept their qualifying offers on Friday. Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus, Orioles catcher Matt Wieters and Dodgers starting pitcher Brett Anderson became the first players to ever accept their team’s QO since this new compensation system was adopted in 2012.
Overwhelmingly, 16 of the 20 players did decline their $15.8 million offers and one player, starting pitcher Marco Estrada, agreed to a two-year, $26 million contract to stay with the Blue Jays.
In alphabetic order, here are the 16 free agents who rejected their offers:
Wei-Yin Chen, LHP
Chris Davis, 1B
Ian Desmond, SS
Dexter Fowler, OF
Yovani Gallardo, RHP
Alex Gordon, OF
Zack Greinke, RHP
Jason Heyward, OF
Hisashi Iwakuma, RHP
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Ian Kennedy, RHP
John Lackey, RHP
Daniel Murphy, 2B
Jeff Samardzija, RHP
Justin Upton, OF
Jordan Zimmermann, RHP
Teams who sign any of these players will forfeit their top unprotected pick in the 2016 First Year Player Draft. The former team will receive a supplemental pick in between the first and second rounds as compensation.
