For more than a decade, the qualifying offer in Major League Baseball has been little more than a formality — a one-year fallback almost no player chose.
Since MLB introduced the qualifying offer system in 2012, 157 players have received the one-year offer from their respective teams. Until Tuesday, only 14 players had accepted the offer — just 8.9 percent. But a record four players accepted the $22.025 million contract Tuesday, taking several premium free agents off the market and likely changing the free agency plans for four playoff teams.
New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham, Milwaukee Brewers right-handed pitcher Brandon Woodruff, Chicago Cubs left-handed pitcher Shota Imanaga and Detroit Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres each accepted their team’s qualifying offer. In a typical offseason, only one or two players accept the qualifying offer. But whether it’s uncertainty surrounding the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement, a relatively strong free agent class (particularly the pitching market) or riskier tenders than other offseasons, the four players will return to their teams on relatively expensive one-year deals.
The qualifying offer salary is equivalent to the average salary of the league’s 125 highest-paid players for the current MLB season. Players can receive the qualifying offer only once, and they must have been with their team for the entire season. Once a team extends the contract, players have 10 days to sign or reject the deal.
An MLB agent said players and their representatives use those 10 days to test the market and gauge the player’s value. Each athlete’s process differs, depending on their age, health and potential. For some players, the qualifying offer provides a chance to earn a high salary for one season before potentially cashing in on a long-term deal the following offseason.
“You weigh what you could get on one-year or a multiyear (deal) against the $22 million for one year. If you could get two years (for) $15 million (per year), is that better?” the agent said. “It’s just a matter of doing your due diligence in a short amount of time.”
Team decisions are the other side of the equation. If a player rejects the qualifying offer and signs elsewhere, his former club receives a draft pick in the following year’s amateur draft, while the team that signs him forfeits a pick. That makes it an easy decision for teams to extend the qualifying offer to stars like Kyle Tucker, Framber Valdez and Dylan Cease, who are almost certain to decline it.
Woodruff, Imanaga and Torres were viewed as relative surprises to accept the qualifying offer, particularly Woodruff, who returned to form in 12 starts with the Brewers (7-2, 3.20 ERA, 0.912 WHIP) after missing the entire 2024 season following shoulder surgery in October 2023. The pitching market is saturated this year, with options like Cease, Valdez, Michael King, Ranger Suárez and Zac Gallen all available.
Imanaga and the Cubs ended up going back and forth a few times before landing at this compromise. Chicago first declined its three-year, $57.75 million option on his contract. Imanaga then quickly declined his $15.25 million player option for next season, which would have included another player option for 2027. In that setup, he could have secured at least $30.5 million guaranteed over the next two years.
Ultimately, the two sides settled on the qualifying offer as the best path forward. Imanaga returns to the club that signed him out of Nippon Professional Baseball, and Chicago brings back a pitcher who went 9-8 with a 3.73 ERA over 25 starts—albeit with some inconsistencies—on a one-year deal.
“It’s up to the agent to get a feel for what’s out there, and then what’s the better solution for the player,” the agent said.
Meanwhile, Grisham’s return came after he was ranked No. 25 on The Athletic’s Free Agent Big Board and projected by Tim Britton to land a three-year, $54 million contract. New York general manager Brian Cashman said the Yankees made the qualifying offer to the outfielder because “we’re comfortable doing so.”
Some projections expected Grisham to test the open market. The Yankees likely extended Grisham the qualifying offer unsure whether he would accept it, according to The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty. As the team briefly pondered selling at this year’s trade deadline, it received inquiries on the availability of Grisham, another league source told The Athletic.
“This is a very thin outfield market,” Cashman said during the GM Meetings last week. “He had a hell of a year for us, and was one of the big reasons why we had the level of success we did.”
Torres arrived in Detroit on a one-year deal last year, with the hopes of working towards a long-term deal. After a strong first half, he struggled after the All-Star break and had surgery to repair a hernia after the season. His market was blemished by both those factors, according to The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen.
Each player had different reasons for accepting the qualifying offer, but the possibility of a potential lockout likely pushed them toward short-term security rather than testing an uncertain market.
