Amid all the injury woes that ravaged the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024, it was Walker , who has gone through plenty of injury problems of his own in the past, that stepped up as one of their best performers in the postseason. In fact, was the one who closed out Game 5 of the World Series, although it did require him to tell a bit of a lie just so he could get on the could not have picked a better time to show the MLB world that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank, as he headed into free agency after a successful World Series run with the Dodgers in 2024. But even though he stepped up for LA, the team decided not to tender him a qualifying offer worth $21.05 million.nd.
first glance, it may seem as though the Dodgers simply chose not to offer this to due to their belief that he is not worth that much on the open market. But Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote that the Dodgers wanted to make life in free agency much easier, as tying him down to a qualifying offer would have taken a lot of agency away from him.
could not have picked a better time to show the MLB world that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank, as he headed into free agency after a successful World Series run with the Dodgers in 2024. But even though he stepped up for LA, the team decided not to tender him a qualifying offer worth $21.05 million.
At first glance, it may seem as though the Dodgers simply chose not to offer this to due to their belief that he is not worth that much on the open market. But Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote that the Dodgers wanted to make life in free agency much easier, as tying him down to a qualifying offer would have taken a lot of agency away from him.
“The Dodgers did not want to force the issue with ,” Rosenthal wrote. “The qualifying offer would have damaged in the market, leaving him with almost no choice but to accept.”
While accepting a huge $21.05 million contract for one year is not the worst outcome for , tendering a qualifying offer simply was not worth it for the Dodgers either way.
“The Dodgers, as a team that will pay the luxury tax, only would have received a pick after the fourth round if he rejected. This way, can negotiate a multi-year deal with the team of his choosing,” Rosenthal added.
