Good morning afternoon, Athletics Nation!
At the beginning of the offseason, the Oakland A’s chose not to extend $18.9 million qualifying offers to their two star free agents, shortstop Marcus Semien and closer Liam Hendriks. That was almost certainly the correct decision, even if you think the A’s should try to bring either or both back this winter, because they won’t command nearly that much on the coronavirus-suppressed open market.
However, six other teams did extend QOs to their departing stars. All six players have now responded to those offers, and two of them accepted: pitchers Marcus Stroman of the New York Mets and Kevin Gausman of the San Francisco Giants.