Final Tally On Qualifying Offers: Who Declined, Who Accepted

With the deadline for players to accept or decline the $19.65M qualifying offer come and gone, the results are in: 11 players declined their QO, choosing to make themselves available to the highest bidders on the free agent market. Two players accepted the nearly $20M for the 2023 season, while one declined it only after going out and finding themselves a multi-year deal.

Qualifying offer results:

Rejected: Aaron Judge, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Jacob deGrom, Dansby Swanson, Carlos Rodón, Brandon Nimmo, Willson Contreras, Chris Bassitt, Anthony Rizzo, Nathan Eovaldi

Accepted: Joc Pederson, Martín Perez

Signed elsewhere: Tyler Anderson

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 15, 2022

Of the 11 players who turned down the QO, it was pretty much a no-brainer for all of them, as they know they'll have teams bidding on them with multi-year offers. Aaron Judge, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Jacob deGrom, Dansby Swanson, Carlos Rodón, Brandon Nimmo, Willson Contreras, Chris Bassitt, and Nathan Eovaldi are now free to make a deal with whomever they choose. The signing team, however, will have to hand over draft pick compensation to the player's former team.

Anthony Rizzo, on the other hand, turned down the QO only as a formality, as he and the New York Yankees have already agreed on a multi-year deal.

The two who accepted the QO, Joc Pederson and Martin Perez, both did so knowing that they've never made anywhere close to $20M in a single season in their long careers, and jumped at the opportunity. 

The most interesting case was that of first-time All-Star Tyler Anderson. He and his representative were pounding the pavement the last five days since receiving the Los Angeles Dodgers' offer, trying to see if they could surpass it on a multi-year deal. Turns out, they didn't have to look far, as he wound up with a deal just down a (very busy) highway. 

Photo: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports