The Major League qualifying offer (QO) is expected to exceed $20 million for the first time in history.
QO refers to a club offering a set annual salary to its FA as a way to express its intention to renew the contract. The QO amount is the average of the top 125 highest paid players in the season.
If the player accepts this, he can remain with his original club, and if he refuses, he can go to the market and negotiate freely with all teams. If a player who has been presented with a QO transfers, the original club is compensated by the transferring club with the right to be selected in the following year’s draft.
QO, introduced in 2012, has continued to increase every year and reached an all-time high of $19.65 million last year. This amount is expected to exceed $20 million this year.
In an article titled ‘MLB QO hits all-time high’ on the 21st (Korean time), the New York Post said, ‘QO is expected to reach about $20.5 million in the upcoming free agent market,’ and ‘QO will be 10% after the end of the regular season. It was reported that MLB and the players’ union will reach an agreement within three days, and the average salary of the top 125 players this year is very close to $20.5 million.
Meanwhile, the media selected the LA Angels’ Shohei Ohtani, the San Diego Padres’ Blake Snell, the Chicago Cubs’ Cody Bellinger, and the Philadelphia Phillies’ Aaron Nola as free agents who will receive QOs this year. These four players have shown satisfactory performance this season and have occupied the top ranks of the FA rankings early on. Even if all of them are offered a QO, it can be said that they reject it ‘100%’.
Ohtani, who officially ended the season after undergoing elbow surgery on the 20th, continued his prowess as a double hitter for the third year. He appeared in 135 games as a hitter, with a batting average of 0.304 (151 hits in 497 at-bats), 44 home runs, 95 RBI, 102 runs, and an OPS of 1.066. As a pitcher, he appeared in 23 games and pitched 132 innings, going 10-5, with an ERA of 3.14, He recorded 167 strikeouts. It is very likely that he will become AL MVP in two years following 2021. His chances of unanimous decision are also predicted.
Snell is a pitcher likely to win the second Cy Young Award of his career. He appeared in 31 games, pitched 174 innings, and has a record of 14 wins, 9 losses, an ERA of 2.33, 227 strikeouts, and a hitting percentage of 0.181. He ranks first in earned run average and hit rate in both leagues combined. Strikeouts are second in the NL. If the Cy Young Award evaluation criteria is ERA – innings pitched – strikeouts, Snell’s chances of winning the award are over 90%. In particular, his ERA is overwhelmingly superior to that of New York Mets Senga Godai (2.96), who ranks second in the NL.
Bellinger moved to the Cubs this year and made a brilliant comeback. Bellinger, who was released from the Los Angeles Dodgers last winter, signed a ‘1+1 year’ contract with the Cubs and pledged to make a comeback. He injured his knee while playing defense in the first half of the season and was sidelined for a month, but after his return, he showed off his skills with the bat even more and is evaluated as having recovered his skills from his time as NL MVP in 2019. It is certain that Bellinger will reject the mutual option next year. He has a batting average of .311 (145 hits in 466 at-bats), 26 home runs, 94 RBI, 90 runs, 20 stolen bases, and an OPS of 0.896 in 121 games.
This year is the final season of Nola’s five-year, $56.75 million contract. This is his first time becoming a free agent since his debut in 2015. He appeared in 30 games this season and has 12 wins, 9 losses, an ERA of 4.62, and 186 strikeouts. Nola receives high scores in ‘durability’, having filled regulation innings for 7 consecutive years since 2017 until this year. Since suffering a back injury for a month in the first half of 2017, Nola has never been on the IL except for testing positive for coronavirus in July 2021.스포츠토토
The New York Post also selected Minnesota Twins Sonny Gray, Toronto Blue Jays Matt Chapman, and San Diego closer Josh Hader as candidates to receive QO, but said it was not certain.
There were a total of 124 free agents who were offered QO until last offseason. Among them, only 13 players were accepted. A representative player is Ryu Hyun-jin of Toronto. Ryu Hyun-jin, who earned his first free agent qualification after the 2018 season, accepted a QO of $17.9 million and stayed with the Dodgers, then displayed Cy Young-level pitching in 2019 and entered the free agent market, wearing a Toronto uniform for four years and $80 million.
A QO can only be presented once in his life. It doesn’t matter to Ryu Hyun-jin, who becomes a free agent again this year.