Star shortstop Trevor Story declined an $18.4 million qualifying offer from the Colorado Rockies, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman.
Story will now hit MLB free agency. Should he sign elsewhere, the Rockies will receive a draft pick as compensation. Many expect the two-time All-Star to ply his trade elsewhere in 2022, so his decision to turn down the qualifying offer wasn't a surprise.
Colorado decided to keep Story through the 2021 MLB deadline, which was somewhat unexpected because the team clearly wasn't going to make the playoffs—the Rockies finished 74-87.
"I'm confused, and I don't have really anything good to say about the situation and how it unfolded," Story told reporters at the time.