The free agency market is open for business and teams are readying for deals to be made. It's a perfect time when teams can sign an outside player while mostly relying on the pockets of the ownership.
The caveat with free agency is that there may be multiple interested parties in a specific player's services. Teams can unknowingly volley offers until said player and their agent are satisfied with the final number they've agreed to.
Signing a top free agent outfielder just got more complicated for the Phillies
Sometimes it's purely just money that is needed to bring in a star. Then you have the true stars of the free agent class that will go where the money takes them with an additional cost. That cost will come with qualifying offers attached to top outfielders like Juan Soto, Anthony Santander and Teoscar Hernández.
The qualifying offer in MLB is an avenue any team can go and offer a given player as they go into free agency. The offer amount comes to the mean salary of MLB's 125 highest-paid players, which for 2025 will be $21.05 million. The offer leaves some options for both the offering and signing club.
The full list of the 13 players who received qualifying offers, per ESPN sources:
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 4, 2024
Juan Soto, New York Yankees
Corbin Burnes, Baltimore
Alex Bregman, Houston
Max Fried, Atlanta
Willy Adames, Milwaukee
Pete Alonso, New York Mets
Anthony Santander, Baltimore
Teoscar Hernández, Los…
The Athletic recently broke down the specifics of qualifying offers (subscription required) and what signing teams can expect. If the Phillies sign any player who rejects their qualifying offer, they lose valuable draft picks. Since the Phillies will again surpass the CBT threshold in 2025, they would potentially lose their second- and fifth-highest selections in the following year's draft. They would also lose out on $1 million in international bonus pool money for the following year.
If the Phillies are willing to potentially pick up multiple players with qualifying offers, they would forfeit their third- and sixth-highest picks as well.
The qualifying offer acts as a safeguard for teams potentially losing out on a player's walk year and draft compensation certainly helps fill a hole on the roster later on.
The Phillies surely have to make a change to their current roster construction this offseason. Phillies owner John Middleton made no mistake about that once the NLDS ended in New York. Middleton immediately found president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski the next afternoon with disgust at how the ending took place (subscription required), per Matt Gelb of The Athletic.
One place ownership was not shy about pointing out was the abundance of swing and miss that picked up as the games wore on. The Phillies are now at a fork in the road and might be ready to truly shake up the lineup.
There are other outfielders on the market who won't come with lost draft picks and additional pool money. Then you're faced with the possibility of landing a four-time All-Star and Silver Slugger Juan Soto, where championship aspirations speak louder than facing another lost postseason.