4 players accept qualifying offer; 9 decline

By Thomas Harrigan | December 5, 2025

Thirteen players were tendered a qualifying offer (a one-year, $22.025 million deal for 2026) earlier this offseason. Four accepted prior to Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline: the Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff, the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga, the Tigers’ Gleyber Torres and the Yankees’ Trent Grisham.

Those four players are signed with their teams for 2026 at the designated value. The nine players who didn’t accept will remain free agents, and if a new team signs them, their old team receives Draft pick compensation.

Since the system was implemented in 2012, 18 players to receive a QO have accepted it.

Here's a breakdown of this year’s qualifying offer decisions.

Players in each section listed in order of 2025 WAR (per FanGraphs)

ACCEPTED QO

Trent Grisham, OF (Yankees)
2025 fWAR: 3.2

One of the biggest surprises of 2025, Grisham set career highs in a number of categories this past season, including homers (34), RBIs (74), walks (82) and OPS (.812). That was a big step up from 2022-24, when he slashed .191/.298/.353 with 39 home runs in 381 games. More >

Gleyber Torres, 2B (Tigers)
2025 fWAR: 2.6

The Yankees didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Torres when he was a free agent last offseason, so he was still eligible to receive one from the Tigers, who signed the second baseman to a one-year, $15 million deal in December 2024. Torres made the All-Star team for Detroit but regressed in the second half (.659) and finished with 16 homers, 74 RBIs and a .745 OPS (108 OPS+), numbers in line with his 2024 production. More >

Brandon Woodruff, SP (Brewers)
2025 fWAR: 1.8

Woodruff has missed substantial time due to injuries in his career -- including all of 2024 following right shoulder surgery -- but few starters have been better on a per-inning basis since ’19. Before a right lat strain put him back on the shelf in September, Woodruff had a 3.20 ERA and a 5.93 K/BB over 12 starts for the Brewers. More >

Shota Imanaga, SP (Cubs)
2025 fWAR: 0.9

Although Imanaga had a 3.28 ERA and a 5.39 K/BB over 54 starts in 2024-25, the Cubs declined their three-year, $57 million club option on the lefty at the end of the 2025 season. Imanaga subsequently turned down his $15 million player option for 2026, becoming a free agent as a result. However, he will be back with the Cubs after all. More >

DECLINED QO (SIGNED ELSEWHERE)

Dylan Cease, SP (Padres)
2025 fWAR: 3.4

New team: Blue Jays (seven years, $210 million)

The results have been inconsistent, but Cease has excellent stuff and has proven to be quite durable. The right-hander led all starters (minimum 1,000 swings) with a 33.8% whiff rate in 2025, which marked his fifth straight season with at least 214 K’s and 32 games started.

Padres’ 2026 Draft compensation: Pick after the completion of Round 4

DECLINED QO (STILL UNSIGNED)

Kyle Schwarber, DH (Phillies)
2025 fWAR: 4.9

Schwarber’s walk year couldn’t have gone much better, as he led the NL in homers (56) and the Majors in RBIs (132) with a career-high 150 OPS+ over 162 games, wrapping up his four-year, $79 million contract with the Phillies in grand fashion. During the course of that deal, only Aaron Judge had more home runs than Schwarber’s 187. He's also been an impactful postseason performer, hitting 23 playoff dingers.

Phillies' 2026 Draft compensation if Schwarber signs elsewhere: Pick after the completion of Round 4

This browser does not support the video element.

Kyle Tucker, OF (Cubs)
2025 fWAR: 4.5

The top player in the 2025-26 free-agent class, Tucker will enter his age-29 season having recorded 23.4 WAR (per FanGraphs) and a 145 OPS+ since the beginning of 2021. Despite dealing with a hairline fracture in his right hand and a left calf strain in 2025, he still posted his third career 20-20 season (22 HR, 25 SB) with a 143 OPS+ over 136 games for the Cubs, who acquired him from the Astros in December.

Cubs’ 2026 Draft compensation if Tucker signs elsewhere: Pick after the completion of Competitive Balance Round B

Ranger Suárez, SP (Phillies)
2025 fWAR: 4.0

Suárez has posted a 3.39 ERA over 116 starts since joining the Phillies’ rotation in 2021, the 13th-best mark among MLB starters during that span (min. 100 starts). He also has an impressive track record of playoff success, with a lifetime 1.48 ERA over 42 2/3 innings in the postseason.

Phillies' 2026 Draft compensation if Suárez signs elsewhere: Pick after the completion of Round 4

Framber Valdez, SP (Astros)
2025 fWAR: 4.0

Perhaps the best starter in a market lacking a true ace, Valdez has found a formula for consistent success with the Astros. The lefty owns a 3.23 ERA over 973 innings since the beginning of 2020, combining solid strikeout numbers with a heavy dose of ground balls.

Astros’ 2026 Draft compensation if Valdez signs elsewhere: Pick after the completion of Round 4

Bo Bichette, SS (Blue Jays)
2025 fWAR: 3.8

After recording a .598 OPS over 81 games in an injury-plagued 2024 season, Bichette entered ’25 needing a strong year to recuperate his stock ahead of free agency. He delivered in a big way, looking like his old self while hitting .311 with 18 homers, 94 RBIs and an .840 OPS.

Blue Jays’ 2026 Draft compensation if Bichette signs elsewhere: Pick after the completion of Round 4

Edwin Díaz, RP (Mets)
2025 fWAR: 2.0

Díaz didn’t receive a qualifying offer the last time he was a free agent at the end of the 2022 campaign, as the Mets re-signed him to a five-year, $102 million deal (a record for a reliever) before the QO deadline. Díaz, who finished 2025 with a 1.63 ERA and a 13.3 K/9, opted out of his contract this offseason.

Mets’ 2026 Draft compensation if Díaz signs elsewhere: Pick after the completion of Round 4

Zac Gallen, SP (D-backs)
2025 fWAR: 1.1

The D-backs shipped off a number of pending free agents at the Trade Deadline but ended up holding onto Gallen, who recorded a career-worst 4.83 ERA over 33 starts in 2025 -- a far cry from his 3.29 ERA across ’19-24.

D-backs’ 2026 Draft compensation if Gallen signs elsewhere: Pick between the first round and Competitive Balance Round A (if he signs for at least $50 million); pick after the completion of Competitive Balance Round B (if he signs for less than $50 million)

Michael King, SP (Padres)
2025 fWAR: 0.8

King made a successful transition to a full-time starting job in 2024, finishing seventh in the NL Cy Young Award voting. He was on his way to another outstanding year in ’25 before injuries intervened, costing him roughly half the season.

Padres’ 2026 Draft compensation if King signs elsewhere: Pick after the completion of Round 4

NOTABLE PLAYERS WHO DID NOT RECEIVE QO

INELIGIBLE FOR QO

Not every free agent can receive a QO. Players who have previously received a QO are ineligible, which means these free agents were not eligible to receive one:

Pete Alonso (Mets), Tyler Anderson (Angels), Chris Bassitt (Blue Jays), Cody Bellinger (Yankees), Alex Bregman (Red Sox), Alex Cobb (Tigers), Michael Conforto (Dodgers), Patrick Corbin (Rangers), Jason Heyward (Padres), Raisel Iglesias (Braves), Kenley Jansen (Angels), Nick Martinez (Reds), Martín Pérez (White Sox), Marcell Ozuna (Braves), J.T. Realmuto (Phillies), David Robertson (Phillies), Carlos Santana (Cubs), Max Scherzer (Blue Jays), Chris Taylor (Angels), Justin Turner (Cubs), Justin Verlander (Giants)

Players who weren't continuously with an organization, either in the Minors or Majors, from Opening Day until the end of the regular season are also ineligible. Notable free agents in this category who weren’t mentioned above include:

Harrison Bader (Phillies), Ryan Helsley (Mets), Merrill Kelly (Rangers), Ha-Seong Kim (Braves), Josh Naylor (Mariners), Ryan O'Hearn (Padres), Tyler Rogers (Mets), Eugenio Suárez (Mariners), Mike Yastrzemski (Royals)

COMPENSATION AND PENALTIES

If a team gives a qualifying offer to a player who then signs elsewhere, the club that lost the player is eligible for Draft pick compensation the following year.

Meanwhile, any team that signs a player who has rejected a qualifying offer is subject to the loss of one or more Draft picks, though a team's highest first-round pick is exempt from forfeiture. (Players who are unsigned after the start of the MLB Draft in the year that follows the rejection of their qualifying offer are no longer tied to Draft pick compensation and can be signed without their new club needing to forfeit a Draft pick.)

For details on how compensation and penalties are determined for qualified free agents, click here.

More from MLB.com