The deadline for teams to dish out qualifying offers was at 5 PM ET Monday. All in all, 13 offers were handed out, and none were overly surprising. Via MLBTR…
-Carlos Beltran
-Robinson Cano
-Shin-Soo Choo
-Nelson Cruz
-Stephen Drew
-Jacoby Ellsbury
-Curtis Granderson
-Ubaldo Jimenez
-Hiroki Kuroda
-Brian McCann
-Kendrys Morales
-Mike Napoli
-Ervin Santana
The most questionable offer of that much would be Drew, who made $9.5 million in 2013 with the Red Sox and bounced back after a disastrous 2012, hitting .253/.333/.443 and providing the Red Sox with stellar defense at shortstop.
The 13 players who received offers have seven days to accept the offer. Out of the 13, the only players I could see accepting the offer for $14.1 million would be Beltran, Cruz, Drew, Granderson, Kuroda, and Morales, though Morales has previously said he would declining a qualifying offer from the Mariners. I think Cruz, Beltran, and Kuroda could accept due to their advanced age, while Drew could accept because he's never made anywhere close to that much money in his career. As for Granderson? Well, 2013 was a lost year for him due to a number of injuries, and I'm sure he'd be content with a one-year deal to rebuild his value.
What about the players who didn't get qualifying offers? The most surprising players not to be offered, and I use the word "surprising" loosely, would be Carlos Ruiz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, AJ Burnett, Tim Hudson, Josh Johnson, and maybe the starting pitching trio of Scott Kazmir, Ricky Nolasco, and Jason Vargas. Players traded during the season aren't eligible for qualifying offers, so Matt Garza, Marlon Byrd, and Justin Morneau (among others) couldn't be offered, though only Garza more than likely would have gotten an offer.
What does all of this mean? Well, any of the players that were given a qualifying offer will cost the team that signs them a draft pick. The top ten (11 really, considering Toronto has picks ten and 11 in the Draft in June) picks are protected, meaning that if a team in the top ten signs one of these players (looking at you, Phillies), they'll forfeit their second round pick as opposed to their first round pick.
Is there a "Kyle Lohse" in this group of qualifying offers? If you'll remember, Lohse (and Adam LaRoche, to a lesser extent) signed very late in the offseason, right before the beginning of the season, because of the forfeiture of a draft pick that his signing would necessitate. Only three players jump out at me, and they're three I've mentioned: Drew, Granderson, and Morales. I think all will sign before Spring Training starts, but I wouldn't be stunned to see their markets cool a bit with the draft pick compensation now tied to their signings.
