Monday, November 11, 2013

Cano, C-Grand, and Kuroda Decline Their Qualifying Offers

To the surprise of no one, the trio of Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, and Hiroki Kuroda declined the qualifying offers extended to them by the Yankees before this afternoon's deadline.  They weren't alone.  In fact, every single one of the 13 players who received qualifying offers declined them.  This now sets the Yankees up to recoup supplemental 1st round draft picks if any of these guys signs with another MLB team this offseason, although it bears reminding that the Yankees will not receive a pick if Kuroda decides to go back to Japan to pitch.

Now that this next step on the offseason path has been reached, the Yankees can continue to move forward with their busy offseason plans.  It's uncertain how, if at all, C-Grand fits into those plans, but I have to imagine they will at least have discussions with Kuroda about coming back and we can all safely assume that they're going to make a big push to bring back Cano.  With his market continuing to be slow, and with new reports stating that no other team outside of the Yankees has made Cano an offer yet, the Yanks continue to be in the driver's seat there.