The Los Angeles Dodgers extended qualifying offers to free agents Brett Anderson, Zack Greinke and Howie Kendrick ahead of Friday’s 2 p.m. PT deadline. The trio has until 2 p.m. PT on Nov. 13 to decide whether or not to accept the one-year, $15.8 million contract for 2016.
Greinke essentially is a lock to reject the offer and Kendrick is expected to do the same. The intrigue lies with Anderson, as it wouldn’t be much of shock for him to become the first player in MLB history to accept the qualifying offer.
Aside from a sore Achilles, Anderson remained healthy throughout the 2015 season. He signed for a base of $10 million last December, though proceeded to earn additional $2.4 million in performance-based incentives.
Anderson finished 10-9 with a 3.69 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 3.51 xFIP, and an MLB-best 66.3 ground ball percentage. He set new career highs in starts (31) and innings pitched (180.1).
Greinke went 19-3 last season, with an MLB-best 1.66 ERAA, 225 ERA+ and 0.84 WHIP. He struck out 200 batters and walked 40 in 222.2 innings of work. In three seasons with the Dodgers, Greinke is 51-15 with a 2.30 ERA.
Should the Dodgers not come to an agreement with the right-hander, they could turn their focus to a strong class of free agent starting pitchers. The group includes Johnny Cueto, David Price, Jeff Samardzija and Jordan Zimmermann.
Los Angeles currently only has a starting rotation of Clayton Kershaw and Alex Wood. Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu remain under contract, but are coming off respective season-ending surgeries.
Kendrick hit .295/.336/.409 with nine home runs, 54 RBIS and a 109 wRC+ in 117 games. Despite time missed time in August and September due to a strained hamstring, Kendrick finished with a batting average above .290 for a third consecutive season.
Unlike Anderson and Greinke, Kendrick doesn’t face heavy competition in terms of free-agent second basemen. Anderson, Greinke and Kendrick all previously expressed some interest in re-signing with the Dodgers.
Should any of the three reject the qualifying offer and sign elsewhere, the Dodgers would receive a compensatory pick (per each individual case) between the first and second rounds of the 2016 draft.
