Teams hope big money keeps key players
Among declined qualifying offers: Blue Jays playoff hero Bautista, coming off down year
NEW YORK — Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer, third baseman Mike Moustakas and outfielder Lorenzo Cain were among nine free agents who received $17.4 million qualifying offers from their teams Monday.
Chicago Cubs pitchers Jake Arrieta and Wade Davis also received the offers, as did Tampa Bay pitcher Alex Cobb, Colorado closer Greg Holland, St. Louis pitcher Lance Lynn and Cleveland first baseman Carlos Santana.
Players have until Nov. 16 to accept. If they sign with new teams, their old clubs would get an extra draft pick as compensation — possibly a much lower selection than in the past under the rules in baseball’s new labor contract.
A club signing one of the players who didn’t accept would lose a draft selection — no longer a first-round pick — and possibly part of its international bonus pool allocation for 2018-19.
The 166 free agents could start negotiating contracts with all teams starting Monday evening.
Qualifying offers began after the 2012 season, and none of 34 players given the offers accepted in the first three years. The figure is determined by the average of the highest 125 contracts by average annual value, and three players accepted from among the 20 given $15.8 million offers in 2015: Houston outfielder Colby Rasmus, Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brett Anderson. Two players accepted from among the 10 who received $17.2 million offers last year: New York Mets second baseman Neil Walker and Philadelphia pitcher Jeremy Hellickson.
The players’ association was concerned some less soughtafter free agents had trouble finding deals because of compensation. Mark Trumbo and Jose Bautista didn’t reach agreement until late January last winter.
Under the previous labor contract, a team signing a free agent who didn’t accept a qualifying offer would lose its first-round
draft pick, unless it was among the first 10 selections. A team losing a qualified free agent received an extra pick after the first round.
Revenue-sharing recipients that do not pay luxury tax receive an additional pick after the first round if a qualified free agent signs elsewhere for $50 million or more and they forfeit their thirdhighest selection for signing a qualified player: Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee, Oakland, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Seattle and Tampa Bay.
The five teams paying luxury tax this year receive an extra selection after the fourth round for losing a qualified free agent who signs for $50 million or more. For signing a qualified free agent, they forfeit their secondand fifth-highest picks and $1 million of their international signing pool that starts next July 2: Detroit, the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, San Francisco and Washington.
The other nine teams receive an additional pick after the Competitive Balance B round if a qualified free agent signs elsewhere for $50 million or more and forfeit their second-highest pick and $500,000 of their next international signing pool: Boston, the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Texas and Toronto.
For qualified free agents signing for less than $50 million, teams receive a pick after the Competitive Balance B round, except for the five that pay luxury tax, where the extra pick is always after the fourth round.
In addition, a player can only be given a qualifying offer once in his career.
As the deadline for exercising 2018 options for potential free agents approached:
Toronto declined a $17.5 million option on Bautista, who gets a $500,000 buyout.
San Francisco exercised options on left-handers Madison Bumgarner ($12 million) and Matt Moore ($7 million) and third baseman Pablo Sandoval ($545,000 minimum).
The Dodgers exercised a $9 million option on infielder Logan Forsythe and declined a $17.5 million option on outfielder Andre Ethier, who gets a $2.5 million buyout.