The Giants extended two qualifying offers — one of which was expected, the other completely shocking.
Both starter Carlos Rodón and outfielder Joc Pederson received the $19.65 million qualifying offer, according to multiple reports. Rodón, who led MLB in FIP and strikeouts per nine innings, will almost certainly decline it. Pederson, who led San Francisco in home runs last season but struggled mightily in the outfield, has a much more complicated decision to make.
Both Rodón and Pederson have 10 days to decided whether to decline or accept the one-year deal. During that period, they can negotiate with other teams to gauge their market value.
Some sources project Rodón to earn a five-year, $130 million contract on the open market. The same projections peg Pederson as roughly a two-year, $20 million player.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has publicly said that SF is interested in bringing Pederson back. If he returns, Pederson is better suited to serve as half of a designated hitter platoon than a regular outfielder.
Players who have never been offered a qualifying offer and have spent the entire previous season with one organization are eligible for a qualifying offer.
If someone receives the qualifying offer and departs for a new team in free agency, his former team is subject to draft pick compensation. Likewise, the Giants would have to forfeit a draft pick if they chose to sign a player who declined their team’s qualifying offer.
Several free agents whom the Giants could target, including Aaron Judge, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Jacob deGrom, Dansby Swanson, Brandon Nimmo and Nathan Eovaldi, received the qualifying offer.
Since the qualifying offer’s implementation in 2012, only 11 of 110 players to receive it have accepted it. Brandon Belt was the only player to accept the QO last year.
