The Rockies extended a qualifying offer to Greg Holland today according to Chris Cotillo. Holland will now have 10 days to decide whether or not to accept it. In that time period, Holland will be able to negotiate with other teams. The deadline for Holland to either accept or reject the offer is November 16th at 5 p.m. ET.
Holland is a sure bet to decline the offer. He turned down his $15 million player option for 2018, and the QO is only a couple million dollars more. More significantly, however, is that Holland had a good enough year to show other teams that he’s fully recovered from Tommy John surgery and can contribute. He posted a 3.61 ERA (139 EA+) in 57 1⁄3 innings in 2017, and he led the National League in saves. That should be enough to earn him the multi-year deal he’s after.
This is just the second time the Rockies have given an impending free agent a qualifying offer. After the 2014 season, they offered one to Michael Cuddyer. He was extremely close to being the first player ever to accept a QO, but the Mets entered in late and signed him to a multi-year contract.
In other news, the Rockies have chosen not to offer Carlos González or any of their other free agents the qualifying offer. He’ll hit the free agent market for the first time in his career.