There is no problem with the QA except that players have yet to realize that it's designed to keep them with their team. It's like the NFL franchise tag.
AJ - 10 years ago
Overall, I believe that the system needs to be tweaked. Rather than a player having to reject the offer and then move on, I'm thinking that the club who extends the offer should need to leave the offer on the table. This would mean that the player would be free to look around for a specified period of time and, if there are no takers, the player could accept the qualifying contract offer. This would scare some teams away from giving a qualifying offer on a player they have no intention of keeping. I'm sure there is something incorrect in my thinking.... Please rip this apart. :)
colin - 10 years ago
I love the qualifying offer...it keeps mediocre stars in check and prevents these ridiculous contracts...stephen drew may be crying about it...but he had the chance to make $14 million for one year then test free agency again.....nelson cruz settled for $8 mil this year when he could of had $14 all because he thought he would get more...the system is designed to punish the big spenders with draft pick forfeiture. I think its an ingenious system to keep baseball teams in check
Terencemann - 10 years ago
The system punishes teams who want to get better and rewards teams for being cheap. It is a system that only rewards teams who never intend to sign a big ticket free agent. I would argue that the system is harder on small market teams than big market teams, who can use their resources to make mistakes go away. This system needs to be scrapped.
Buckeyebo - 10 years ago
Qualifying offer is to the advantage of small markets any way you shake it !!! The large market clubs have the budget to spend the $100+Million on a ball player and more then one should they choose ! Small markets tend to try to pick their Franchise Player ie Votto, and now Bailey with the Reds(35) but they can only do a few ! They are not and never will be New York(1), LA(2), Chicago(3), or Boston(7), Philly(4) , San Fran(6). Texas (6)or even Houston(10) Detroit(11) Phoenix(13) Seattle(12) Washington(8) Atlanta(9) HOW CAN #35 Compete with the list above ? They can not expect a home town discount so eventually they have to let someone go ie. Bruce, Latos, Cueto etc. They give a qualifying offer and they get a Draft Pick as compensation that is one of the FEW fare things in the system !!! You say well what about Cruz the compensation goes to Texas Great he was purchased at a Great price by a not so small but Small in comparison Market Baltimore(27) and at a Great Price for one year they deemed it a Smart Investment !!! I AGREE !!! So Drew and Santana are still out there they should be a Great Deal or Dumb one for someone !!! My money is on a Great deal for someone !!! It evens the field out as Best it can and unlike the New Agreement with Japan ADDS BALANCE for smaller markets ! The new agreement with Japan does allow ALL Teams to Qualify with an offer yet as we just saw the RICHEST TEAM will always Win !!! I think Tanaka will be special I am glad the Yanks could buy their way back into contention in Jeters retirement year , but it is NOT the Right answer to keep on an even ground ! Want even make the qualifying offer go against the salary cap and DON'T Screw the Japanese owners with a minimum !!! Now lets see if the qualifying offer reaches $50 Million, and the Contract hits $150 Million ??? It would have hit $35 to $40 Million and Tanaka would have been $100 contract and it more then likely would NOT have been the Yankees who won due to the offer costing them ONE LUMP SUM in this years Salary Cap , and then add the contract :) !!! Who knows Phoenix might have won :) ! DON'T CHANGE THE QUALIFIEING OFFER IT IS GREAT THE WAY IT IS !!!
Chris - 10 years ago
As the son of a former major league player, I'm all for the players maximizing what they earn while in the league. However, as a business owner, I hate the idea that ANY gamble that a player makes that results in a financial loss is somehow a fault of the system. If you turn down huge money ($14.1m) AND the ability to be a free agent again next year, THEN nobody wants to pay what you want, then you got bad advice from your agent or you had an inflated view of your worth.
Not getting paid what you want because a team would rather have the draft pick may be a tough pill to swallow. Get used to it. Contrary to what you believe, you aren't THAT special. Earn the offers you receive and live with the deals you sign.
sully00 - 10 years ago
The system seems fine it just appears that Boras couldn't force it to its knees. Next season all of these B level type guys who aren't worth 14 mil annually will take the one year deal. Why a guy says no to 14 mil for one season because he thinks he can 2 or 3 years at half that is crazy. Guys who miss a season can find a one year 5 mil deal.
They don't have to even take the deal to stop teams from using the QO just signal that you will accept instead of having your agent pretend he has several multi year offers to choose from when he doesn't. You can always change your mind when it comes but then you stop teams from just offering it for the pick.
BravesNut13 - 10 years ago
Having an agent can be a good thing but sometimes the player needs to evaluate things on his own. A player needs to figure out if he IS a $14.1M player or not. But the draft pick compensation is not about the pick, it is more about the slotted associated with that pick that a team is allowed to spend on all of their draft picks. If you want to tweek it some, If a player turns down the qualifier, what pick he is associated with will be determined by the contract he signs. EX: If the player signs a contract with a higher average annual value than the qualifying offer, then it costs the signing team a 1st round pick. If the player is signed to a contract with a lower AAV than the qualifying offer, then the team only gives up maybe a 3rd round pick. So McCann ($17M AAV), Cano ($24M AAV), Ellsbury ($21.8M AAV), etc would cost a team a 1st round pick. Cruz ($8M) and Jiminez ($12.5M AAV) signed contracts with an AAV less than $14.1M, so they would only cost 3rd round picks or later.
Dennis Widman - 10 years ago
Players who are not worth the qualifying offer are getting bad advice from their Agent when advised to test the Free Agent market. If Free Agency stays unchanged after a couple more years it will "sort itself out." Players like Cruz, Morales and Drew won't pass on a qualifying offer if given the chance. The fact that no one has accepted a qualifying offer shouldn't be a reason to change the system in favor of players -- it should be the opposite.
JCM - 10 years ago
Why don't they make it like hockey or basketball, where the player can accept the qualifying offer throughout free-agency, maybe cap it at a later date. That way they can assess options first. 1 year 14 mil is good money for a year, but they want job security.
Joe - 10 years ago
The issue isn't with the draft pick, it's with the $ the players are looking for. Drew is not a 14 million dollar player.
Peter Stoll - 10 years ago
The thing with the QO is that players and agents havent figured it out yet. Many more of them should be accepting QOs, you know, the players NOT WORTH 14 million a year, Im talking to you stephen drew.
tt - 10 years ago
TypeA&B exists very long time.Now it only changes name and why argue?It is already very "elite"players who can receive it now,not like typeA
No team should be penalized for signing a free agent, whether he is an elite free agent or a scrub. The QO is fine, and I have no objection to compensating a team that loses an elite free agent who has declined a QO. But not at the expense of the signing team. The teams losing the FAs should receive a supplemental pick between rounds 1 and 2, in the same order as the regular draft order of the rounds. A team losing a second QO FA would get their second supplemental pick in a supplemental round between rounds 2 and 3, and so on. No team that signs those free agents should lose their picks.
lwayne - 10 years ago
It would appear these players are not worth what they think they are. 14 million is a lot of money to refuse. Knowing the Cruz situation I was surprised they made the QO to start with and even more surprised he turned it down as that represented absolutely top dollar for his abilities.
KC - 10 years ago
Seems to me that the teams have all the financial risk signing and drafting players plus with MLB players getting guaranteed contracts. The QO is certainly a ton of money so if declined, then the team should at least get the draft pick.
There is no problem with the QA except that players have yet to realize that it's designed to keep them with their team. It's like the NFL franchise tag.
Overall, I believe that the system needs to be tweaked. Rather than a player having to reject the offer and then move on, I'm thinking that the club who extends the offer should need to leave the offer on the table. This would mean that the player would be free to look around for a specified period of time and, if there are no takers, the player could accept the qualifying contract offer. This would scare some teams away from giving a qualifying offer on a player they have no intention of keeping. I'm sure there is something incorrect in my thinking.... Please rip this apart. :)
I love the qualifying offer...it keeps mediocre stars in check and prevents these ridiculous contracts...stephen drew may be crying about it...but he had the chance to make $14 million for one year then test free agency again.....nelson cruz settled for $8 mil this year when he could of had $14 all because he thought he would get more...the system is designed to punish the big spenders with draft pick forfeiture. I think its an ingenious system to keep baseball teams in check
The system punishes teams who want to get better and rewards teams for being cheap. It is a system that only rewards teams who never intend to sign a big ticket free agent. I would argue that the system is harder on small market teams than big market teams, who can use their resources to make mistakes go away. This system needs to be scrapped.
Qualifying offer is to the advantage of small markets any way you shake it !!! The large market clubs have the budget to spend the $100+Million on a ball player and more then one should they choose ! Small markets tend to try to pick their Franchise Player ie Votto, and now Bailey with the Reds(35) but they can only do a few ! They are not and never will be New York(1), LA(2), Chicago(3), or Boston(7), Philly(4) , San Fran(6). Texas (6)or even Houston(10) Detroit(11) Phoenix(13) Seattle(12) Washington(8) Atlanta(9) HOW CAN #35 Compete with the list above ? They can not expect a home town discount so eventually they have to let someone go ie. Bruce, Latos, Cueto etc. They give a qualifying offer and they get a Draft Pick as compensation that is one of the FEW fare things in the system !!! You say well what about Cruz the compensation goes to Texas Great he was purchased at a Great price by a not so small but Small in comparison Market Baltimore(27) and at a Great Price for one year they deemed it a Smart Investment !!! I AGREE !!! So Drew and Santana are still out there they should be a Great Deal or Dumb one for someone !!! My money is on a Great deal for someone !!! It evens the field out as Best it can and unlike the New Agreement with Japan ADDS BALANCE for smaller markets ! The new agreement with Japan does allow ALL Teams to Qualify with an offer yet as we just saw the RICHEST TEAM will always Win !!! I think Tanaka will be special I am glad the Yanks could buy their way back into contention in Jeters retirement year , but it is NOT the Right answer to keep on an even ground ! Want even make the qualifying offer go against the salary cap and DON'T Screw the Japanese owners with a minimum !!! Now lets see if the qualifying offer reaches $50 Million, and the Contract hits $150 Million ??? It would have hit $35 to $40 Million and Tanaka would have been $100 contract and it more then likely would NOT have been the Yankees who won due to the offer costing them ONE LUMP SUM in this years Salary Cap , and then add the contract :) !!! Who knows Phoenix might have won :) ! DON'T CHANGE THE QUALIFIEING OFFER IT IS GREAT THE WAY IT IS !!!
As the son of a former major league player, I'm all for the players maximizing what they earn while in the league. However, as a business owner, I hate the idea that ANY gamble that a player makes that results in a financial loss is somehow a fault of the system. If you turn down huge money ($14.1m) AND the ability to be a free agent again next year, THEN nobody wants to pay what you want, then you got bad advice from your agent or you had an inflated view of your worth.
Not getting paid what you want because a team would rather have the draft pick may be a tough pill to swallow. Get used to it. Contrary to what you believe, you aren't THAT special. Earn the offers you receive and live with the deals you sign.
The system seems fine it just appears that Boras couldn't force it to its knees. Next season all of these B level type guys who aren't worth 14 mil annually will take the one year deal. Why a guy says no to 14 mil for one season because he thinks he can 2 or 3 years at half that is crazy. Guys who miss a season can find a one year 5 mil deal.
They don't have to even take the deal to stop teams from using the QO just signal that you will accept instead of having your agent pretend he has several multi year offers to choose from when he doesn't. You can always change your mind when it comes but then you stop teams from just offering it for the pick.
Having an agent can be a good thing but sometimes the player needs to evaluate things on his own. A player needs to figure out if he IS a $14.1M player or not. But the draft pick compensation is not about the pick, it is more about the slotted associated with that pick that a team is allowed to spend on all of their draft picks. If you want to tweek it some, If a player turns down the qualifier, what pick he is associated with will be determined by the contract he signs. EX: If the player signs a contract with a higher average annual value than the qualifying offer, then it costs the signing team a 1st round pick. If the player is signed to a contract with a lower AAV than the qualifying offer, then the team only gives up maybe a 3rd round pick. So McCann ($17M AAV), Cano ($24M AAV), Ellsbury ($21.8M AAV), etc would cost a team a 1st round pick. Cruz ($8M) and Jiminez ($12.5M AAV) signed contracts with an AAV less than $14.1M, so they would only cost 3rd round picks or later.
Players who are not worth the qualifying offer are getting bad advice from their Agent when advised to test the Free Agent market. If Free Agency stays unchanged after a couple more years it will "sort itself out." Players like Cruz, Morales and Drew won't pass on a qualifying offer if given the chance. The fact that no one has accepted a qualifying offer shouldn't be a reason to change the system in favor of players -- it should be the opposite.
Why don't they make it like hockey or basketball, where the player can accept the qualifying offer throughout free-agency, maybe cap it at a later date. That way they can assess options first. 1 year 14 mil is good money for a year, but they want job security.
The issue isn't with the draft pick, it's with the $ the players are looking for. Drew is not a 14 million dollar player.
The thing with the QO is that players and agents havent figured it out yet. Many more of them should be accepting QOs, you know, the players NOT WORTH 14 million a year, Im talking to you stephen drew.
TypeA&B exists very long time.Now it only changes name and why argue?It is already very "elite"players who can receive it now,not like typeA
No team should be penalized for signing a free agent, whether he is an elite free agent or a scrub. The QO is fine, and I have no objection to compensating a team that loses an elite free agent who has declined a QO. But not at the expense of the signing team. The teams losing the FAs should receive a supplemental pick between rounds 1 and 2, in the same order as the regular draft order of the rounds. A team losing a second QO FA would get their second supplemental pick in a supplemental round between rounds 2 and 3, and so on. No team that signs those free agents should lose their picks.
It would appear these players are not worth what they think they are. 14 million is a lot of money to refuse. Knowing the Cruz situation I was surprised they made the QO to start with and even more surprised he turned it down as that represented absolutely top dollar for his abilities.
Seems to me that the teams have all the financial risk signing and drafting players plus with MLB players getting guaranteed contracts. The QO is certainly a ton of money so if declined, then the team should at least get the draft pick.