Thirteen players have received a qualifying offer this year, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The list is as follows: This year's QO is valued at $22.025MM. All 13 players will have the next 15 days to decide whether to accept that one-year offer or decline and become a free agent. They can spend that time gauging the open market to determine interest in their services.
The league's best teams often teeter on a knife's edge, thriving thanks to continuity but in a constant state of fragility, which explains the current state of the weakened Eastern Conference. The two favorites, who meet in a made-for-television opener Wednesday in New York, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Knicks (7 p.m. ET on ESPN), are in this place because of the consistency of their rosters and misfortune of fellow contenders.
On Aug. 25, 2012, the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers completed a nine-player trade that altered the course of both franchises. The Dodgers acquired Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrián González and Nick Punto in a deal that added over $250 million in salary. Boston received Ivan De Jesus Jr., Rubby De La Rosa, James Loney, Jerry Sands and Allen Webster. More importantly, they finished the 2012 season under the luxury tax threshold and avoided the 40-percent repeater penalty.
