As free agency begins, eight players received one-year, $23.15 million qualifying offers:
Teams can extend a qualifying offer to a free agent as long as he spent the entire last season with the club and hasn’t previously received one — which is why you don’t see Tarik Skubal on this list. The player can accept or decline, and in most cases, he declines and enters free agency.
If a player who received a qualifying offer signs with another team, his previous club is entitled to draft compensation — and that’s what this article is all about. A lot of clubs are wary of signing free agents who turned down qualifying offers for that very reason, the Braves included. Atlanta would have to forfeit its second- and fifth-highest draft picks, along with $1 million in international bonus pool money, to sign any of these players.
That’s a stiff penalty, so which players on this list would actually be worth it? Of the eight, six play positions of need for the Braves.
Bauers is the most shocking name of the bunch, cashing in on his breakout campaign and tremendous postseason run. But I don’t see many teams surrendering draft compensation on top of a lucrative contract for a player with just one y...