Report: Qualifying offers going down to $17.8M this offseason

For the first time ever, Major League Baseball's qualifying offer will go down in value instead of up.

This winter, teams can offer specific impending free agents a one-year, $17.8-million contract for the 2020 campaign, sources told Jayson Stark of The Athletic. That number is down slightly from the $17.9-million mark from last offseason.

The value of the qualifying offer is determined by the average annual salary of the 125 highest-paid players, which reportedly dropped since last year.

The lower average salary was at least partially reached because the contracts that Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, and Manny Machado inked included big signing bonuses with relatively lower salaries in 2019.

If a player rejects their qualifying offer and signs with a new team, his former squad will receive a compensation pick in the 2020 draft from the player's new employer. Those who've received qualifying offers in the past or were traded during the 2019 season are ineligible for this process.

Seven players were tendered qualifying offers in 2018 - including Harper and Patrick Corbin - but only Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu accepted. Ryu was just the sixth player to accept a qualifying offer since its introduction in 2012.

Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel rejected their offers and didn't sign new deals until after the 2019 draft. As a result, neither the Atlanta Braves nor the Chicago Cubs were forced to relinquish compensatory draft picks.

Big-ticket players like Houston Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole and Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson are candidates to receive the $17.8-million offer this offseason.