Colby Rasmus will reportedly be first to accept Major League Baseball qualifying offer

General manager Jeff Lunhow, who drafted Rasmus in the first round while he was scouting director for the St. Louis Cardinals, stated Monday, according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, he hoped that the outfielder would accept the offer and return for another season. When a player rejects the deal in order to test the market, his former team receives an additional high selection in the June draft. If true, it’ll be the first time a player has accepted such an offer since the new system came into place three years ago. The salary is determined by averaging the top 125 salaries from the previous season.

In 485 plate appearances, Rasmus hit /238/.314/.475 with 25 homers, a wOBA of.339, and a wRC+ of 115.

Rasmus hit. 381 in the 2015 postseason with the Astros, with four home runs. The current CBA expires next year.

Murphy, who homered in a record six straight postseason games, would take up more than 10 percent of the Mets’ 2016 payroll if he accepts. Thus forcing a few players to sit waiting in qualifying offer purgatory until after the draft so a team could pick them up without the loss of a pick.

“If players accept, it might change available dollars”, Pittsburgh GM Neal Huntington said. Simmons follows Jason Heyward, Chris Johnson, Craig Kimbrel, Justin Upton and Melvin Upton Jr. out of Atlanta, which is rebuilding ahead of its move to a new suburban ballpark in 2017. “Aybar, eligible for free agency after next year’s World Series, has been the Angels” starting shortstop since 2008. The Mariners kept on addressing their bullpen by acquiring right-handed reliever Joaquin Benoit from the San Diego Padres for a pair of minor league prospects.

The outspoken Rasmus, who walks often to the beat of a different drum, earned $8 million on a one-year deal in 2015 with Houston.