Pirates make no offer to Burnett
The Pirates did not extend a qualifying offer to A.J. Burnett, who was their No. 1 starter.
Burnett, who will be 37 next season, expressed a desire to return to the Pirates, who snapped a 20-year drought of sub-.500 seasons and no playoff appearances.
By not making the offer, which would have been $14.1 million for one season, the Pirates are not eligible for a compensation pick in next year’s draft if Burnett would sign with another team.
The deadline to make the offer was at 5 p.m., Monday.
Burnett, who earned $16.5 million last season, went 10-11 with a 3.30 ERA. The Pirates can still negotiated a contract with Burnett if he chooses not to retire.
Meanwhile, the World Series champion Boston Red Sox made $14.1 million qualifying offers to free agents Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Napoli and Stephen Drew.
Thirteen free agents received the offers, up from nine last year. The Yankees also extended offers to a trio of players: second baseman Robinson Cano, outfielder Curtis Granderson and pitcher Hiroki Kuroda.
Players accepting are signed for next season.
Others receiving the offers were Atlanta catcher Brian McCann, Cincinnati outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, Cleveland pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, Kansas City pitcher Ervin Santana, St. Louis outfielder Carlos Beltran, Seattle designated hitter Kendrys Morales and Texas outfielder Nelson Cruz.
Free agents can start talking contract with all teams today.
The amount of the qualifying offer, which increased by $800,000 this year, is set by baseball’s collective bargaining agreement as the average of the 125 highest contracts.
Among the nine players who received the offers last year, the only ones to stay with their teams were Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, Kuroda and Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche.
Cruz served a 50-game suspension this year; he was among 14 players disciplined by Major League Baseball after its investigation of the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic. In 108 games before his suspension in August, Cruz hit .269 with 27 homers and 76 RBIs. He returned for the AL wild-card tiebreaker and went 0-for-4.
Among those who did not receive offers were pitchers Bronson Arroyo of Cincinnati, Matt Garza of Texas, Roy Halladay of Philadelphia, Tim Hudson of Atlanta, Josh Johnson of Toronto and Fernando Rodney of Tampa Bay.