MLB free-agent qualifying offer price drops to $17.8 million

NEW YORK (AP) — The price of qualifying offers for Major League Baseball free agents dropped for the first time, falling by $100,000 to $17.8 million.
Determined by the average of the top 125 major league contracts this year, the figure announced Friday reflects a flat market last offseason.
In addition, large signing bonuses in the contracts of Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Mike Trout impacted on the drop, because the signing bonuses are prorated over the length of the contract rather t