Eight MLB players received $23.15 million qualifying offers on Monday, including New York Yankees closer David Bednar, Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki and Seattle outfielder Randy Arozarena, according to FOX Sports. Each player now has until 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 17 to accept or reject the offer, per CBS Sports.
The other five players tagged with offers are Milwaukee first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers, Baltimore left-hander Trevor Rogers, Minnesota catcher Ryan Jeffers, Pittsburgh second baseman Brandon Lowe and San Diego left-hander Adrian Morejón. The $23.15 million figure represents the average of the top 125 salaries in baseball for the year, a number that has climbed as league-wide pay has grown.
What The Qualifying Offer Means
A qualifying offer gives a team’s own pending free agent the choice between locking in a one-year deal at the set salary or testing the open market. If a player accepts, he plays the 2027 season for his 2026 club at $23.15 million. If he declines and signs elsewhere, his former team receives an additional draft pick as compensation, with the exact slot determined by that team’s luxury tax status and revenue-sharing position.
For the Yankees, that structure applies directly to Bednar, who closed games for New York in 2026 before reaching free agency, according to Yahoo Sports. Total Apex Sports previously reported the Yankees were expected to extend Bednar a qualifying offer while passing on tagging another pending free agent.
Why This Year’s Group Is Unusually Small
Eight qualifying offers ties for one of the smallest totals since the system began. Only six were issued in 2020. Last offseason produced 13 qualifying offers, down from a high of 20 in a single year. The shrinking pool reflects how few impending free agents both qualify for the tag and fit the risk-reward calculation teams weigh before offering it, since a player who accepts locks the team into a one-year, $23.15 million salary it cannot rescind.
Acceptance has historically been rare. From 2012 through the 2025 offseason, teams made 157 qualifying offers and players accepted only 18 of them. Last year broke from that pattern, with a record four players taking the one-year salary instead of entering free agency. That shift suggests some players and agents now view the rising qualifying-offer salary as a competitive alternative to multiyear offers in a market that can be unpredictable for certain profiles.
What’s Next
Bednar, Suzuki, Arozarena, Bauers, Rogers, Jeffers, Lowe and Morejon each have until the Nov. 17 deadline to decide. Players who reject the offers become free agents immediately, while their 2026 teams wait to learn where their compensation picks will land in the 2027 draft order. Total Apex Sports has tracked the rising qualifying-offer salary for the 2026-27 cycle and the broader shakeup it could cause across the free agent market.
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