Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Major League Baseball’s qualifying offer deadline was at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
We already knew the Mets administered offers to Michael Conforto and Noah Syndergaard, as they announced the news Saturday night. There were also a handful of players that would obviously get a qualifying offer. However, when the deadline came around Sunday, there were also a couple players who surprisingly either got or didn’t get an offer.
These players were extended a qualifying offer by their teams:
- Astros shortstop Carlos Correa
- Astros pitcher Justin Verlander
- Rockies shortstop Trevor Story
- Mets outfielder Michael Conforto
- Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard
- Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos
- Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager
- Dodgers utility man Chris Taylor
- Blue Jays second baseman Marcus Semien
- Blue Jays pitcher Robbie Ray
- Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman
- Giants first baseman Brandon Belt
- Angels reliever Raisel Iglesias
- Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez
If the player accepts, they’ll play on a one-year, $18.4 million deal next season. These players can never be extended a qualifying offer again.
If a player declines the offer and signs with another team, the team will have to give up their second-highest pick (which for the Mets is the 14th overall pick, because they also have the 11th pick from Kumar Rocker not signing after the last draft). There are also more/different forfeitures for teams that exceeded the luxury tax or received revenue sharing.
The Mets should not be weary of signing many of the players extended a QO, primarily the likes of Correa, Story, Semien, Seager, Ray and others. The Mets need to fill a second or third base spot (versatility helps, folks) as well as a starting pitcher spot in their rotation. Any of those players would be worth giving up the 14th pick. (They ought to be a little weary of giving up the 14th pick for someone like E-Rod or Iglesias, though.)
There were also some players who somewhat surprisingly (in some cases) did not receive a qualifying offer. These include:
- Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw
- Rockies pitcher Jon Gray
- A’s outfielder Mark Canha
- White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon
- Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani
A team can sign any of these players without risk of losing any draft compensation.
In some cases, like Kershaw’s and Rodón’s, there’s a feel that the team didn’t want to commit that much money to guys who ended the year with questionable medicals.
In Gray’s case, though, the Rockies not extending him an offer after not trading him feels pretty stunning. He can walk from the Rockies now with the team not receiving any compensation at all. Expect lots of teams to be in on Gray’s services.
