Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, and Willy Adames were among the 13 free agents who received $21.05 million qualifying offers on Monday.
Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, and Max Fried also received the one-year offer before Monday’s deadline. Players have until 4 p.m. EST on November 19 to decide whether to accept.
If a player accepts, they will stay with their current team for another season. If they decline the offer and sign with another team, the new team will have to give up draft picks, and the player’s previous team will receive at least one draft pick as compensation.
In other news on Monday, New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole chose to stay with the Yankees rather than become a free agent.
As the 5 p.m. EST deadline approached, both Cole and the Yankees agreed to cancel their rights and worked out the details with Major League Baseball and the players’ association.
“Maybe the grass isn’t always greener,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. “I think he’s happy where he’s at.”
The Atlanta Braves exercised the $16 million option for All-Star designated hitter Marcell Ozuna for the 2025 season, but they declined options for right-handed pitcher Luke Jackson and catcher Travis d’Arnaud.
Jackson’s option was for $7 million with a $2 million buyout, while d’Arnaud’s option was for $8 million with no buyout.
Texas pitcher Nathan Eovaldi became a free agent after declining a $20 million option for the 2024 season with the Rangers. Eovaldi will receive a $2 million buyout after meeting the conditions for the option by pitching more than 300 innings over his two years with Texas.
After losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last week, the Yankees made a qualifying offer to Juan Soto, who is considered the top free agent available.
Outfielder Teoscar Hernández also received a qualifying offer from the Dodgers.
One of the bigger surprises was that Boston pitcher Nick Pivetta, who had a 6-12 record with a 4.14 ERA in 145 2/3 innings this season, received a qualifying offer.
After making a surprising run to the National League Championship Series, the New York Mets made qualifying offers to Pete Alonso and starting pitchers Sean Manaea and Luis Severino.
Baltimore offered qualifying offers to Corbin Burnes and outfielder Anthony Santander. No other team made more than one qualifying offer.
Other players who received the offer include Arizona first baseman Christian Walker, Cincinnati right-hander Nick Martinez, Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames, Houston third baseman Alex Bregman, and Atlanta pitcher Max Fried.
Pitcher Walker Buehler of the Dodgers and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt of the St. Louis Cardinals were among the eligible free agents who did not receive a qualifying offer, meaning they can sign with any team without their new team losing draft picks.
A player can only receive a qualifying offer if they have been with the same team since the start of the season and have never gotten a qualifying offer before.
Qualifying offers have been in place since the 2012 season, and only 13 of the 131 offers have been accepted.
Gerrit Cole’s $324 million, nine-year contract, which he signed before the 2020 season, gave him the option to opt out after the 2024 World Series. However, the Yankees could prevent him from opting out by adding a $36 million salary for 2029 to his deal.
The 34-year-old right-hander won the 2023 AL Cy Young Award. He started the 2024 season late, on June 19, due to nerve irritation and swelling in his right elbow. The six-time All-Star finished the regular season with an 8-5 record and a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts, and was 1-0 with a 2.17 ERA in five postseason starts.
