Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said at Mondays end-of-season press conference that the team will definitely make a qualifying offer to free-agent catcher Willson Contreras
That much was widely assumed from the moment the team surprisingly opted against trading Contreras prior to the Aug. 2 deadline.
An exact amount on this years qualifying offer, which is set annually at the average of the games 125 highest-paid players, has not yet been determined.
Last years qualifying offer clocked in at $18.4M.
Any player rejecting a qualifying offer is then subject to draft-pick compensation, meaning a team choosing to sign him will be required to surrender at least one pick in the following years draft (in addition to potentially forfeiting resources from its international bonus pool.
Teams that receive revenue sharing would forfeit their third-highest selection to sign a qualified free agent.
Non-revenue sharing, non-luxury tax paying teams lose their second-highest pick and $500K of international bonus pool space.
The six teams that paid the luxury tax this year Mets, Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox, Padres would forfeit their second- and fifth-highest picks as well as $1M of international pool space.
The Cubs, meanwhile, would receive a compensatory pick between Competitive Balance Round B and Round 3 of next summers draft typically in the No. 75 overall range.
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