The World Series is over; Now it’s time for MLB Free Agency

With the World Series officially over, all eyes will turn to the off-season and the pending MLB free agency period.

With the World Series over and the Washington Nationals crowned the 2019 Champions, it is time to descend upon one of the baseball writer’s favorite time of the year: MLB free agency.

The off-season is a magical place where trades, free-agent signings, and free agency rumors dominate baseball’s headlines. A time when front office staff and management personnel across the league are doing everything within their power to improve their respective ball clubs.

Some teams are looking for that one player who could be the next piece of a World Series team, someone who could fill the last hole on a squad destined and ready for October baseball.

Other teams are looking for a fresh start, trading veteran fan-favorite players away in order to make the club younger, building the team from the ground up in hopes of creating a dynamic core that baseball historians will talk about for ages.

MLB free agency and the off-season can be a dramatic time for both the organizations and the players, as many players are vying for roster spots in which only 26 people can take part of. Whether you have athletes looking to cash in on mega contracts or veteran players looking to get back into the game, free agency can be both a friend and a foe of any player.

Just ask Dallas Keuchel, who had to wait until 1/3 of the season was over and the June Amateur Draft had passed, a victim of the qualifying offer and poor advice from his agent Scott Boras.

Regardless of what happens during the off-season, there is always plenty of drama and tribulations, underdogs making big splashes and blind trades which have fans either cheering in jubilation or crying for managements head on a stake.

Now that the World Series is over the fun begins.

The World Series is over; Now it’s time for MLB Free Agency

Who Receives a Qualifying Offer?

After the World Series concludes, teams across the league have 5 days to negotiate with players on their roster in regards too: who receives a qualifying offer (QO) and which players will have their options picked up.

Once a player is offered a QO, they will have ten days to decide whether or not to accept the offer, which could dramatically impact their MLB free agency standing that winter.

Players who believe they had a ‘down year’ could accept the offer and bet on themselves for another year with the same club, utilizing next year’s free-agent period as a way to sign a more lucrative contract when they do not have a QO attached to their name.

Any player who rejects the qualifying offer will then come with an asterisk, in that any opposing team who signs the player will have to forfeit some draft picks in the upcoming June Amateur Draft. This area gets complicated, as it is divided into tiers based on the financial standing of the signing team and whether the team is under the luxury tax; information can be found at the link here.

The qualifying offer for the 2020 season is $17.8 million dollars, which is down from last year’s value at $17.9 million. The value is based on the average on baseball’s 125 most paid players in the league.

So, who are some of the players who could receive a qualifying offer from their respective teams this year?

Well for starters, players traded midway through the 2019 season or players who have previously received an offer cannot be offered another QO. This would cross players like Hyun-Jin Ryu, Nicholas Castellanos, and Dallas Keuchel off the list.

Starting pitcher Gerrit Cole, the most coveted starter during the 2019 free agency period, will most definitely receive an offer, which he will 100% decline. He will command a large financial sum to get his services and he will be seeking a lucrative long term deal, which he will 100% collect on. Look for deep-pocketed teams like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers to take a shot at the right-hander.

Pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Yu Darvish could find themselves receiving a QO if they choose to opt-out of their current contracts and dive headfirst into MLB free agency.

For Strasburg, there is potential that he could resign with the Nationals after having a dominant regular season and playoff run with the NL pennant winners. If he chooses to not resign with the Nats, look for him to receive and decline the offer in order to test the market for the most money possible.

This depends on how much money he asks for, as he may price himself out of Washington with contracts like Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin already on the roster, as well as free agent third baseman Anthony Rendon looking to cash in at approximately $30 million a season.

For Darvish, two up and down seasons with the Chicago Cubs could see the Japanese right-hander opting out of his contract to explore the market. The real question is whether he opts out or not instead of the QO, considering his family loves Chicago and the past few seasons haven’t really beefed up his stats for a long term contract.

If he opts out and receives a QO, he will most likely decline the offer because he would have made more money per his current contract, which players usually don’t like to do. I see Darvish not opting out of the contract.

Anthony Rendon will also be a free agent this upcoming season and will be one of the most coveted position players on the market. He will 100% receive a qualifying offer if he chooses to test the free-agent market, and he will also 100% decline the offer.

Rendon could return to the Nationals if Strasburg does indeed opt-out and leave the organization, but even with the draft pick compensation by his name, teams will still likely lineup around the block for Rendon’s services.

The deadline for players to accept qualifying offers is November 15, 2019.

Other players likely to receive a qualifying offer this season include Zack Wheeler, Josh Donaldson, Aroldis Chapman, and Madison Bumgarner.

The World Series is over; Now it’s time for MLB Free Agency

Salary Arbitration/Rule 5 Draft

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For players who have accredited enough MLB service to reach arbitration, a minimum of 3 years but a maximum of 6, December 2, 2019, is a date that quite a few players will have circled on their calendar.

By December 2, players who are on the 40 man roster for each organization must have been tendered a contract for the upcoming season, regardless if it is an arbitration-eligible player or a player with less than 3 years of service time. Players may be non-tendered in order to make room on the roster or negotiate a longer deal and will become free agents during this time.

There are special circumstances where a player with less than 3 years experience but more than 2 years of MLB service time may qualify as a Super Two player, and be eligible for arbitration as well.

Players who qualify for arbitration will usually negotiate with the team and have until January 10, 2020, to come to an agreement. If the two sides cannot come to an agreement by the set date, salary figures are exchanged between the player and the organization, and a panel of arbitrators will decide which figure the player will earn during the upcoming season.

The arbitrator’s decision is final, but both sides can negotiate and hammer out a deal after the January 10th deadline but before the arbitration meetings in mid-February, usually settling on a one year deal (multi-deal years have also occurred, but less frequent).

Each team has players who will be heading to arbitration, with prominent players such as George Springer and Kris Bryant heading into the process and looking to cash in for another consecutive year.

Players have often been very vocal about the arbitration process, and how it feels to have the organization argue why a said player does not deserve to earn a higher salary based on statistics, player comparison, etc.

Another exciting aspect of the off-season is the Rule 5 Draft, where players who are not on the 40 man roster being possibly eligible to be drafted by other MLB teams.

A player who signs at 18 or younger with the current club must have 5 years of professional baseball experience in order to be eligible, while players 19 or older (who sign) only need 4 years of pro ball experience.

Players who are selected in the Rule 5 draft are usually players who have:

-not lived up to their draft potential, and other MLB teams are taking a chance on them succeeding in a different organization/environment

-international players who were drafted at a young age but are on teams with no room on the 40 man roster

-older players who have had recent success in the higher levels of the minor leagues, but are also on teams with no room on the 40 man roster.

Obviously teams can draft players who are eligible for whatever reason they see fit, but drafting a player costs the draftee team $100,000, payable to the organization they selected the player from.

Players drafted during the Rule 5 Draft must remain on the team’s active roster for the respective season. If they fail to make the squad out of spring training or get dropped halfway through the season, the draftee team must offer the player back to the team he was drafted from for $50,000. The previous team may choose to not accept the player, which would allow the player to remain with the current team and can be optioned to the minors.

Teams can also trade Rule 5 players with the above restrictions still in place, or teams can trade full rights for a player if the teams choose to strike a deal.

Essentially, the Rule 5 draft is a $50,000 gamble that a player who hasn’t been given an opportunity on the MLB stage can be a ‘diamond in the rough’ find for the team that drafts him.

Some great players have been taken in the Rule 5 draft and had a successful career, a list that includes George Bell, Josh Hamilton, and Johan Santana.