Center fielder Colby Rasmus is made history on Friday, becoming the first to accept the qualifying offer, the Houston Astros announced.
Colby Rasmus the first to accept MLB qualifying offer
Rasmus, 29, will make $15.8 million with the Astros in 2016
Bob Levey/Getty Images
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports was first to report the news on Thursday, and was confirmed by Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
Rasmus is the first player ever to accept the qualifying offer, in its fourth year of existence. There could be others, with a deadline for Friday at 5 p.m. ET for players to accept or decline the offer. There were 20 players extended a qualifying offer last Friday.
In the first three years of the qualifying offer system, all 34 players to receive the offer declined it.
Rasmus will make $15.8 million on a one-year deal in 2016, the salary determined from the average of the top 125 salaries in MLB in the previous season. Players who decline the qualifying offer cost their new team a first-round draft pick, or if top-10 protected their next-highest pick, which can limit a player’s market.
Rasmus, 29, hit .238/.314/.475 with 25 home runs and 23 doubles in 137 games for the Astros in 2015. He was especially effective in the postseason for Houston, hitting .412 (7-for-17) with four home runs and seven walks in six games.
He signed a one-year, $8 million contract as a free agent with Houston last winter.
A $15.8 million, at the moment Rasmus will be the highest-paid Astros player in 2016, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
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