The final hurdle before MLB's offseason truly gets underway has passed. Today (at 4:00 p.m. E.T.) was the deadline for players to accept qualifying offers before officially entering free agency. We now know who will be staying with their incumbent teams and who will be hitting the open market.
This year, 10 teams combined to send 13 qualifying offers to pending free agents. Only one man - Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Martinez - elected to accept the one-year, $21.05 million contract.
Nick Martinez, Filthy Changeups. 😷 pic.twitter.com/xCNEJbyySP
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 20, 2024
Martinez, 34, posted career-best numbers for the Reds in 2024. He particularly excelled in September, allowing only three earned runs in 32.2 innings across five starts. His 0.83 ERA, .161/.195/.214 opponent slash line and 25.2% strikeout rate over that stretch garnered National League Pitcher of the Month honors.
Nick Martinez | 2024 (New Career-Bests) | Previous Career-Bests |
|---|---|---|
ERA | 3.10 | 3.43 (2023) |
Innings | 142.1 | 140.1 (2014) |
Strikeouts | 116 | 106 (2023) |
Walks | 18 | 19 (2016) |
WHIP | 1.026 | 1.260 (2023) |
ERA+ | 142 | 123 (2023) |
FIP | 3.21 | 3.92 (2023) |
HR/9 | 0.8 | 1.0 (2023) |
BB/9 | 1.1 | 3.3 (2023) |
SO/BB | 6.44 | 2.65 (2023) |
Wins | 10 | 7 (2015) |
WAR | 4.0 | 1.5 (2023) |
Martinez spent four years (2018-21) playing in Japan following four seasons with the Texas Rangers to open his career (2014-17). He spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the San Diego Padres.
Cincinnati inked him to a two-year, $26 million deal that included a $12 million player option for 2025 last offseason. He opted out of that pact on Nov. 1, roughly one week after claiming the Johnny Vander Meer Award as the organization's Outstanding Pitcher of the Year over All-Star Hunter Greene. The Reds extended Martinez's qualifying offer on Nov. 4, and he accepted it on Monday.
According to The Athletic, Martinez is just the 14th player (out of 144) to accept a qualifying offer. The current system, implemented in 2012, ties looming free agents to draft pick compensation if they leave their old organization for a new franchise.
12 Players chose to forego their qualifying offers
Martinez locked himself into a $9 million raise for 2025 by accepting his qualifying offer. He called the decision "a no-brainer" because he "set mind to be for two years" when signing with the Reds last year, per The Athletic. He ranked No. 25 on the company's Free Agent Big Board.
Almost every other player sent a qualifying offer (QO) slotted above Martinez on that list. The lone exception - Boston Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta - decided to decline his potential one-year deal (somewhat surprisingly), joining the other 11 players in doing so.
Declined QO | Position | Team | Athletic FA Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
Juan Soto | OF | New York Yankees | 1 |
Corbin Burnes | SP (R) | Baltimore Orioles | 2 |
Max Fried | SP (L) | Atlanta Braves | 4 |
Willy Adames | SS | Milwaukee Brewers | 6 |
Alex Bregman | 3B/SS | Houston Astros | 7 |
Pete Alonso | 1B | New York Mets | 8 |
Anthony Santander | OF | Baltimore Orioles | 9 |
Teoscar Hernandez | OF | LA Dodgers | 11 |
Sean Manaea | SP (L) | New York Mets | 12 |
Christian Walker | 1B | AZ Diamondbacks | 15 |
Luis Severino | SP (R) | New York Mets | 23 |
Nick Pivetta | SP (R) | Boston Red Sox | 31 |
Teams will receive a draft pick following Competitive Balance Round A, Competitive Balance Round B or the fourth round of the 2025 MLB Draft—depending on their market status and/or payroll—if their player signs with a new squad before the 2025 MLB Draft begins.
All 11 of those players should expect to earn a lucrative, long-term contract in free agency, though being attached to the qualifying offer has hampered non-elite free agents in recent years. Still, players like Soto and Burnes should have no issue breaking the bank this offseason.