NEWSLETTER
[Seven posts today? Not unusual for this time of year, and an opportunity to remind you to follow BN on Twitter and like BN on Facebook so that you’re getting your updates injected into your social sphere regularly.]
The following 13 players today were made qualifying offers of about $14.1 million for the 2014 season:
Now, should any of those players pass on the offer and choose to sign elsewhere, the signing team will lose a draft pick. The pick will depend on where the signing team’s first round draft pick falls. If it’s in the top 10 picks (11 this year because the 11th pick is the one the Blue Jays got for failing to sign their first rounder last year, and that pick cannot be lost – I believe), the team will lose its second round draft pick in order to sign the player. If the team’s first round pick falls outside of the top 10, however, then the signing team will lose its first round draft pick.
The 13 qualifying offers are about 50% more than last year, when just 9 players received an offer. Last year’s free agent class was arguably better, and we could be seeing additional fruits from the ever-escalating pay scale. That said, none of the offers is a surprise.
Among the players that could have received an offer, but didn’t (suggesting that their team believes they might have accepted, and are not worth $14.1 million on a one-year deal): Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Bronson Arroyo, Tim Hudson, Bartolo Colon, Josh Johnson, and many more.
In addition to the obvious, the large number of qualifying offers – assuming the majority of players sign with new teams – means that the second round will be a little further from the first round in the Draft next year. This tends to impact all teams equally, but it does make the Cubs’ second round pick (the one they’d lose if they signed a qualified free agent) a little less valuable. Just sayin’.
Of the qualified free agents, the Cubs have been linked at various times (and with varying degrees of reliability) to Robinson Cano (not happening), Shin-Soo Choo (possible), Jacoby Ellsbury (very likely not happening), Curtis Granderson (conceivable), and Brian McCann (just don’t see it). I could see the Cubs exploring Cruz, Jimenez, and Santana, depending on how their markets shake out.
Players have until next Monday, November 11 to decide on whether to accept their qualifying offer. For most of these players, there’s no decision at all. For Cruz, Drew, Granderson, Kuroda, and Morales, there might be a little something to consider. If you want to keep tabs on other important dates, deadlines, and general scheduling stuff for the offseason, make sure to check out the road map I put together last week.
