The Opener: Top 50 FAs, Qualifying Offers, Deadlines

As expected, Monday featured a flurry of transactions with teams working to get their 40-man rosters in place. More moves should be coming as yesterday’s DFAs resolve, either through waiver claims, outright assignments, or free agency elections. 1. Top 50 Free Agents is live It’s here. We published the 21st (!!) edition of our Top 50 Free Agents list last night. The talented trio of Steve Adams, Anthony Franco, and Darragh McDonald spent months putting together the rankings and contract predictions, with some help from MLBTR founder and owner Tim Dierkes. Enjoy! 2. Eight players get QOs Qualifying offers were due yesterday. Eight players ultimately received the offer, which is worth $23.15MM this year. Here’s the list: Randy Arozarena (Mariners) Jake Bauers (Brewers) David Bednar (Yankees) Ryan Jeffers (Twins) Brandon Lowe (Pirates) Adrián Morejón (Padres) Trevor Rogers (Orioles) Seiya Suzuki (Cubs) Recipients have until 3 pm CT on November 17 to decide on the offer. 3. NPB negotiating window won’t pause The pending lockout in December will shape the timing of the offseason. One factor that won’t change is the negotiating window for Japanese players posted by NPB teams. Those players have 45 days from the time they were posted to find a deal with an MLB squad. That window will not change if there is a lockout, per a report yesterday. Teruaki Sato and company will have more like 30 days to land an MLB gig after being officially posted over the weekend. Photo courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel, Imag Images View Comments (15)