The Red Sox have until 5PM Eastern time today to
make qualifying offers to their two key free agents: closer
Craig Kimbrel and relief pitcher
Joe Kelly. This year's qualifying offer is $17.9 million (the mean salary of MLB's 125 highest-paid players). Boston's other top free-agent,
Nathan Eovaldi, is
not eligible for the qualifying offer because he was traded during the season. Players who receive a qualifying offer have
10 days to accept or reject it. Typically, players that receive qualifying offers
do not re-sign with their old club— the only ones who
have are:
Brett Anderson,
Jeremy Hellickson,
Neil Walker,
Colby Rasmus and
Matt Wieters. There is a complex web of new rules regarding compensation for lost free agents. Because the Red Sox went
over the luxury-tax threshold, any compensation pick they'd receive would be
after the fourth round has been completed. Stay tuned!
