Arozarena, Suzuki and Bednar Among Eight Free Agents to Get $23.15 Million Qualifying Offers

By The Arena Staff

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2026 — Baseball's offseason got its first real price tags Monday. Eight free agents were handed qualifying offers worth $23.15 million for one year, and the clock is now running on one of the winter's quieter but more consequential decisions.

The group is led by Seattle outfielder Randy Arozarena, Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki and New York Yankees closer David Bednar. Pittsburgh second baseman Brandon Lowe, Baltimore left-hander Trevor Rogers, Milwaukee first baseman and outfielder Jake Bauers, San Diego left-hander Adrian Morejon and Minnesota catcher Ryan Jeffers also received offers, according to MLB.com and The Associated Press.

Each has until 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 17 to answer. A player who accepts is signed for 2027 at the set figure, which is the average of the top 125 major league contracts. A player who declines stays a free agent, and if he signs elsewhere before next year's draft, his old team gets draft-pick compensation. History says most will walk away: only 18 of the 157 offers made since the system began after the 2012 season have been accepted, the AP reported.

Arozarena has the strongest case to test the market. He posted 5.5 wins above replacement by FanGraphs' measure in his walk year, the highest of the group, along with the best full-season OPS+ of his career at 148 and a sixth straight season of at least 20 homers and 20 steals, MLB.com noted. Lowe hit 35 home runs with 96 RBIs in his first year in Pittsburgh, and Bednar had a 2.47 ERA and 35 saves in 39 chances for the Yankees.

Two names carry a twist. Bauers earned $2.7 million in 2026, then was named NLCS MVP on the way to Milwaukee's World Series title, so even a one-year offer would be a big raise. And Morejon is a setup man, not a closer, which makes him an unusual choice: MLB.com said every reliever who had received a qualifying offer before him had been a closer.

One notable player was left out. Philadelphia did not make an offer to third baseman Alec Bohm, according to the AP.

Monday also brought a wave of option decisions. Corbin Burnes chose not to opt out of the final four years of his $210 million deal with Arizona, Toronto's Jose Berrios stayed in the last two years of his contract while he recovers from Tommy John surgery, and the Athletics' Luis Severino exercised a $22 million player option for 2027. Twenty-eight more players became free agents, pushing the total to 183, and all of them could start negotiating with any team at 5 p.m. ET.

The calendar may do the rest. MLB is expected to impose a lockout when the collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, the AP reported, which could set off a rush of signings in the weeks before.

Sources: MLB.com and AP via ESPN.