MLB Qualifying Offer Price Drops

NEW YORK (AP) – The price of qualifying offers for Major League Baseball free agents has dropped for the first time, falling by $100,000 to $17.8 million. Determined by the average of the top 125 major league contracts this year, the figure reflects a flat market last offseason. In addition, large signing bonuses in the contracts of Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Mike Trout impacted on the drop, because the signing bonuses are prorated over the length of the contract rather than the year they were received. A qualifying offer can be made through the fifth day after the World Series, and a player has a week after that to accept. If a team makes a qualifying offer to a player who signs a major league contract with another club before the June amateur draft, his former club would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round. A free agent can be made a qualifying offer only if he has been with the same team continuously since opening day and has never received a qualifying offer before.