All week, we waited with baited breath to see if any of the 13 players given qualifying offers by their former teams would accept the offers. On Monday we learned the answer: nope. All 13 players declined the offers by the 5 PM deadline.
Most players were expected to decline the offers. The only three players that were really question marks were Stephen Drew, Kendrys Morales, and Curtis Granderson. But Drew and Morales are both advised by Scott Boras and accepting the offer seemed like a long shot, while Granderson seems determined to get paid, injury-plagued 2013 or not.
The former teams of these 13 players are now set to earn draft pick compensation when the players sign with new teams. The former team will receive a sandwich round pick as compensation. Any team that signs a free agent that received a qualifying offer will lose their first round pick. The top ten picks are protected, meaning that if one of those teams signs a free agent that received a qualifying offer, they'll instead lose their second round pick. If a player re-signs with his former team, draft picks are neither earned nor forfeited.
