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Let the offseason fireworks begin.
Monday at 5 p.m. ET was a key early deadline in Major League Baseball’s offseason, as teams needed to decide whether to extend one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offers to those impending free agents who are eligible.
Some of the league’s biggest names were among those who reportedly received the offers, including Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Corbin Burnes.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan shared the full list:
While teams had to decide whether to extend the offers by Monday, the players who received one have until 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 19 to decide whether they will accept it. Those who do accept it will play on the one-year deal for 2025, and those who don’t are free to sign with another team.
If one does sign elsewhere, his former team will then collect draft-pick compensation as his new team loses picks. The draft-pick compensation means teams go through the motions of extending the qualifying offer even if there is virtually no chance the player will accept it in cases with stars such as Soto.
It should be noted teams cannot extend qualifying offers to players who have previously been extended one. That means notable names such as Gerrit Cole, Cody Bellinger, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Blake Snell are not eligible for the offers.
There is no shortage of marquee names available this offseason, and they are all almost assuredly going to decline the qualifying offer.
After all, someone like Soto who is just 26 years old and one of the game’s premier offensive forces is going to receive a massive payday. Accepting the one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer doesn’t make much financial sense, especially if teams such as the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers get into a bidding war.
While Alonso surely won’t land the same type of deal as Soto, he is another offensive star who will likely decline the qualifying offer and seek a head-turning contract in free agency.
The slugger turns 30 next month but launched 34 home runs in 2024 after reaching the 40-homer mark the previous two seasons. He can still be among the game’s best power hitters and will likely be paid accordingly this offseason.
On the pitching side of things, Burnes is the headliner.
The 2021 National League Cy Young winner was excellent in his one season with the Baltimore Orioles and posted a 2.92 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 181 strikeouts in 194.1 innings. He helped lead the team to the playoffs by anchoring the rotation and made his fourth consecutive All-Star Game.
At 30 years old, this may be his final chance to land a significant deal in free agency, and he surely isn’t going to pass that up by accepting the qualifying offer.
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