Qualifying Offer decisions go well for Marlins rivals

The New York Mets are one of the top division rivals for the Miami Marlins. They might have one of their players win the NL MVP award. They're also pursuing the top free agent on the market, even standing out as one of the favorites to do so. It's interesting to see how their off-season works out, but a pair of Qualifying Offers that they gave out have now worked out. The offers in question were to starting pitchers Sean Manaea and Luis Severino.

Miami Marlins rivals did well with their Qualifying Offers.

Teams extend Qualifying Offers to players when they believe that either result will benefit them. The Qualifying Offer is currently worth $21.05 million for the 2025 season. This means that if a player accepts it, the team would have to be fine with it. At the same time, if a player rejects it, the team will receive a compensatory draft pick when they sign elsewhere. The Miami Marlins didn't need to offer any by the way.

A team doesn't offer a QO, if the player will accept and they don't believe that he's worth the 1 year/$21.05 million deal. Two of the QO's that the Mets gave out were risky in my view. Luis Severino was coming off a season in which he pitched to a 3.91 ERA/4.21 FIP, with 8.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9, in 31 games and 182.0 innings pitched. Adding his injury history, he definitely was a risky candidate. He made $13 million this season and certainly didn't earn himself a raise. It's great for the Mets that he actually rejected the QO. They will receive a draft pick after he signs elsewhere.

Sean Manaea has had a shaky career. He has a career 4.00 ERA/4.01 FIP. In 2024 he pitched to a 3.47 ERA/3.83 FIP, with 9.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 32 games and 181.2 innings pitched. He's also not someone who I see being worth the QO. Lickily for the Mets, he rejected the QO as well. This means that they can still bring him back, with less teams in on him. They can also let him go and collect the draft pick.