Originally published by DodgerBlue.com
The 2021 MLB offseason began in full earnest last week with the start of free agency. For the Los Angeles Dodgers, it amounted to 11 players officially reaching the open market.
The initial group consisted of Danny Duffy, Cole Hamels, Kenley Jansen, Clayton Kershaw, Corey Knebel, Jimmy Nelson, Albert Pujols, Max Scherzer, Corey Seager, Steven Souza Jr. and Chris Taylor. Joe Kelly has since joined the mix after L.A. declined his $12 million club option for the 2022 season and paid him a $4 million buyout.
Through 2 p.m. PT Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers had the option to extend the $18.4 million qualifying offer to eligible free agents. Of the aforementioned players, Kershaw, Seager and Taylor were viewed the most likely to receive it.
The Dodgers wound up extending the one-year pact to just Seager and Taylor. Now Seager is likely to make the expected decision of declining the qualifying offer, according to Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times:
Corey Seager will decline the Dodgers’ qualifying offer, per source. Not a surprise. Chris Taylor is the other Dodgers free agent who received the QO.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) November 9, 2021
Seager — and all others who were extended a qualifying offer — have until Nov. 17 to accept or reject it. Seager joins Michael Conforto and Nick Castellanos as those who are declining it.
Seager headlines a historic free agent shortstop class that includes Carlos Correa, Javier Baez and Trevor Story, among others. The 2020 World Series MVP batted .306/.394/.521 with 22 doubles, 16 home runs and 57 RBI in 95 games this year.
While Seager has expressed a desire to re-sign with the Dodgers, a plethora of teams are expected to pursue him this offseason. Some believe the 27-year-old could sign a record-breaking contract that exceeds $300 million.
How MLB qualifying offer works
In order to be eligible to receive a qualifying offer, players must have spent the entire season on a team’s roster and previously could not have been extended one.
If a player rejects the qualifying offer and goes on to sign a contract that’s worth more than $50 million with a different team, the losing club will receive a compensation pick after the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft.
However, because the Dodgers were one of two teams to exceed the $210 luxury tax threshold this season, they would only be entitled to a compensation pick after the fourth round of next year’s draft.
Furthermore, if L.A. was to sign a player who rejected the qualifying offer this offseason, they would forfeit their second and fifth highest draft picks to the losing team, along with $1 million in international bonus money.
Of course, the system could change once a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is in place.
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