MLB free agency: 3 players who won’t accept their qualifying offers
On Sunday, the deadline arrived for Major League Baseball teams to extend qualifying offers to those players who were eligible to receive one. If the player didn’t accept the one-year, $18.4 million offer, they were officially a free agent and the team that would eventually bring them into the fold would owe a draft pick to the team that lost that player.
The list is ever-growing and contains an impressive who’s who within the world of MLB. However, there are some players on the list who simply won’t accept the qualifying offer from their soon-to-be-former team. They’re ready to move on, and a solid one-year salary isn’t going to keep them with the team they were on in 2021.
MLB free agency prediction: Trevor Story won’t accept his qualifying offer from the Colorado Rockies
We start with an All-Star shortstop who has already said his goodbyes to teammates and fans in Colorado and is ready to move on to another team. He’s even gone as far as to say the five things he is looking for in his next team, and the majority of them certainly don’t sound like they fit the Rockies.
Story will join Nolan Arenado, DJ LeMahieu, and Troy Tulowitzki as All-Star infielders who once called Denver home but will likely finish their careers in another uniform.
MLB free agency prediction: Nick Castellanos won’t accept his qualifying offer from the Cincinnati Reds
There’s a reason why Castellanos opted out of his contract, leaving two years and $32 million on the table. He’s expecting a bigger payday outside of Cincinnati after a season where he put up an OPS+ of 136 while smacking 34 home runs and driving in 100.
Castellanos picked a great time to have his first-ever All-Star Game nod, setting himself up for plenty of teams to want his services in 2022. And, with Cincinnati being in cost-cutting mode after some head-scratching moves already this offseason, the Reds aren’t likely to open up the wallet to keep the 29-year-old outfielder in the Queen City.
So where could Castellanos head next, sending a drive into deep left field? Could a reunion with Detroit be in the cards, the team that selected him 44th overall in the 2010 draft and where he played for seven seasons? What about the Miami Marlins, a team that has plenty of payroll space and is less than an hour away from where he played high school baseball? Could he be the big splash a major market team like the New York Mets or Chicago White Sox are willing to pull off?
Castellanos will get a payday this offseason. It just won’t be in Cincinnati.
MLB free agency prediction: Robbie Ray won’t accept his qualifying offer from the Toronto Blue Jays
On his way to likely winning the American League Cy Young Award, Ray took a chance on himself last offseason, signing a one-year, $8 million deal with the Blue Jays. With 248 strikeouts in 193.1 innings and an American League-leading 2.48 ERA and 154 ERA+, Ray certainly made that contract deal look like one of the best of the 2021 campaign.
Yes, he would receive a $10 million-plus raise by accepting the one-year offer from the Blue Jays, but it’s also likely that his value will never be higher than it is right now. Ray knows that, and Toronto knows that as well.
Quality starting pitching is always valued at a premium, and the 30-year-old southpaw will cash in this offseason.
Which team could that be? It could well be the Blue Jays, a team that has already said it is prioritizing starting pitching this offseason (per The Athletic, subscription required) and should have the salary flexibility to make it happen.
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It could also be a team in Los Angeles, whether it’s the Angels, a team that needs to improve its starting pitching to get in the postseason hunt, or the Dodgers, a team that faces questions about the return of Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer.