Offseason and Free Agents and Qualifying Offers, Oh My!
By Selena Smith
Jun 10, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop Jed Lowrie (8) is greeted in the dugout after scoring a run during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Just because baseball season has ended doesn’t mean there’s not plenty of baseball to still talk about. Free agency began Tuesday, November 4th, and the time frame for teams to extend qualifying offers to eligible players passed at 5pm eastern the day before. So what exactly does all of this mean?
According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement in effect since 2012, the qualifying offer is determined by taking the average salary of the 125 highest paid players from the prior season. This year the qualifying offer is worth $15.3 million, up 8.5% from last year, for a one-year contract. Teams have five days after the World Series to make a qualifying offer to free agents who have been with their team the entire season, and the player has seven days after that to accept or reject the offer. Make sense? For some fun offseason reading check out the nearly 300 page Collective Bargaining Agreement.
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Of the 22 qualifying offers made since the two years the agreement has been in place, not one player has accepted a qualifying offer. There’s some speculation as to whether that will change this year as some big name players ended up making less money by not accepting the qualifying offer last year. This year 12 players have received the qualifying offer from their team:
Melky Cabrera, Outfielder, Toronto Blue Jays
Nelson Cruz, Outfielder, Baltimore Orioles
Michael Cuddyer, Outfielder, Colorado Rockies
Francisco Liriano, Left- handed Pitcher, Pittsburg Pirates
Russell Martin, Catcher, Pittsburg Pirates
Victor Martinez, Designated Hitter, Detroit Tigers
Hanley Ramirez, Shortstop, Los Angeles Dodgers
David Robertson, Right-handed Pitcher , New York Yankees
Pablo Sandoval, Third Base, San Francisco Giants
Ervin Santana, Right-handed Pitcher, Atlanta Braves
Max Scherzer, Right-handed Pitcher, Detroit Tigers
James Shields, Right-handed Pitcher, Kansas City Royals
For most of the players on this list, the qualifying offer was merely a technicality. They will most likely turn it down but the team they leave will receive a draft pick. At the time of this writing, Pablo Sandoval was the only player that had rejected the qualifying offer so far. The third baseman could still end up with the Giants, they will just need to throw their hat in with the big money suitors like Boston. Sandoval is looking for a big pay day as he rejected a three-year, $40 million offer earlier this year and his value has no doubt only increased. However, teams considering signing such free agents may be hesitant to give up their draft picks, which led to the undervaluing of some players last year like Nelson Cruz.
Oakland Athletics fans will notice that their free agent shortsstop Jed Lowrie did not get an offer extended to him. This really should not come as a shock as reported by Jason Burke. So it looks like Jed will test out the free agent market and the A’s will, unsurprisingly, have a hole to fill in the middle infield. This topic has been up for much debate as we wonder whether the team looks to make major changes to contend again in 2015 or work with what they have. It is highly unlikely that the Athletics will acquire one of the pricey short stops on the market like Hanley Ramirez. One thing is for certain, whatever Billy Beane does will hardly faze us desensitized fans. We will roll with it and see what curves are thrown our way in 2015.