No surprise, but general manager Dayton Moore confirmed to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star that the Royals will make a qualifying offer to free agent Ervin Santana.
Santana will reject the offer because it’s essentially a one-year, $14 million deal and he can surely get plenty of multi-year deals on the open market, but this way the Royals will be in line for draft pick compensation if he ends up signing elsewhere.
Santana improved his stock more than any other impending free agent this season, going from quasi-salary dump by the Angels to throwing 211 innings with a 3.24 ERA. And both Santana and the Royals seem open to working out a new deal, although that might change once the bidding starts.
