MLB will set its one-year qualifying offer for free agents at $19.65 million for the upcoming offseason, the New York Post reported.
The amount, which is the average of the top 125 salaries across the major leagues, can be offered by teams to their own free agents provided that player has not been given a qualifying offer previously.
Players must have spent the full previous season with a club in order to receive a qualifying offer.
If a player rejects the qualifying offer and signs a deal with another club, the team providing the offer is rewarded with an additional draft pick. The value of that draft pick varies among teams based on revenue-sharing status and luxury-tax thresholds.
Teams that sign a player who was given a qualifying offer by his former team are subject to a loss of one or more draft picks.
A total of 14 players were given qualifying offers last offseason at $18.4 million, with only the San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Belt accepting the one-year deal.
–Field Level Media