ST. PETERSBURG -- Alex Cobb has turned down the Rays' one-year qualifying offer of $17.4 million for the 2018 season, making the right-hander free to sign with another team as a free agent.
Cobb, 30, spent his first six Major League seasons with the Rays. He made 29 starts and went 12-10 with a 3.66 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 179 1/3 innings in 2017, his second year removed from Tommy John surgery.
A qualifying offer is a one-year deal worth $17.4 million for 2018, the average salary of MLB's 125 highest-paid players. If a player is extended a qualifying offer, turns it down and signs elsewhere, the team that loses him receives a Draft pick next year as compensation.