Max Fried declined the qualifying offer, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
Tuesday was the deadline for players to accept or reject the qualifying offer.
Fried declining it doesn’t change his situation — or the Braves’ offseason. This was the expected outcome, and he’ll remain a free agent.
This process was a formality for the Braves and Fried. The Braves always were going to extend the qualifying offer to Fried, and the left-hander certainly was going to decline it.
The Braves can still re-sign him, but that doesn’t appear likely. Fried should have a solid market in free agency.
The qualifying offer is a one-year contract worth $21.05 million for 2025. Teams can offer it to their free agents. If those players reject it and sign elsewhere, the team receives a compensatory pick for the next year’s MLB draft.
Thus, if Fried signs with another team, the Braves earn an extra draft pick in next summer’s draft. If you’ll remember, Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson both received the qualifying offer, rejected it and ended up elsewhere, which gave the Braves an extra pick in the next draft.
Not every free agent receives a qualifying offer. For example, the Braves didn’t tender an offer to A.J. Minter because they didn’t consider the lefty reliever worth $21.05 million per year. Clubs must think about whether they’d like to sign the player at that cost while the player considers whether he can make more money on the open market.
In pursuing Fried, another club will need to consider the fact that he has a qualifying offer attached to him and that they would lose a draft pick if they sign him. This shouldn’t be an issue for Fried, who is one of the top starters on the market this winter.
The Braves might lose Fried and Charlie Morton, which leaves them with two holes in the rotation. One could be filled by Spencer Strider, who won’t be on the opening-day roster but will return at some point in the early part of the season. Still, the Braves likely will be in the market for starting pitching.
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