*  *  *  Updated: November 6, 2015 at 1:00 pm PT)  *  *  *

After the 2013 season, Red Sox infielder Stephen Drew declined to accept the team’s $14.1 qualifying offer (QO) to remain in Boston for the 2014 season. It ended up being a very costly mistake for the then 30-year-old .251 career-hitting Hahira, GA native – a $4 million mistake.

By not accepting the team’s rather generous $14.1 million QO – which is set annually in accordance with the MLB-MLBPA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement – Drew became yet another in the growing list of major leaguers to not accept a QO, of which there have been none, zip, zilch, nada who have. Drew eventually re-signed with the team but for a pro-rated $10 million with another possible $2.4 million in incentives which he did not meet. He was then traded to the rival New York Yankees at the July 31 trade deadline.

Fast forward to right now.

Next week Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi must decide if the are going to make left-hander Brett Anderson a qualifying offer for the 2016 season or let him walk as a free agent. The huge difference is that this year’s QO has risen to $15.8 million, which could very well be incentive enough for the oft-injured Midland, TX native (who will be 29 in February) to become the first player in MLB history to accept a qualifying offer.

No one will argue that Brett Anderson has some leverage heading into the off-season, but is it enough for the Dodgers to offer him a multi-year contract extension? (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Anderson is coming off a decent 2015 season in which he posted a 10-9 record and 3.69 ERA, which is basically what you expect from a number four or number five starter. But because of season-ending injuries to left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu and right-hander Brandon McCarthy, Anderson was moved up to the number three spot in the Dodgers rotation – a spot in which his numbers were a little on the low side from what you’d expect from a number three.

But most impressive – and verification of Friedman and Zaidi’s decision to roll the dice on him – was the fact that for the first time since his rookie season in 2009, Anderson made more than 19 starts (he made 31) and pitched more than 83 innings for the first time since 2010 – all for the bargain price of $10 million. He also received an additional $2.4 million (out of a possible $4 million) in incentives for innings pitched, thereby bringing his total 2015 salary to $12.4 million.

The question now is, will Anderson be willing to accept the guaranteed one-year / $15.8 million qualifying offer that Friedman and Zaidi will undoubtedly make him, or will he try what Stephen Drew unsuccessfully did in 2014 hoping to land a better free agent deal elsewhere?

As expected, there has been zero in the way of chatter from Anderson – a frequent Twitter poster – or the Dodgers over this matter and understandably so – they can’t; at least not until the World Series ends. But having had the opportunity to interview the soft-spoken (and extremely funny) lefty who absolutely loves being a Dodger, the general consensus is that he will indeed be the first major leaguer to accept a qualifying offer.

Then again, maybe he won’t.

As we all know, starting pitchers are at a premium right now – even number three or four starting pitchers. And with the very strong possibility (probability, actually) that right-hander and 2015 NL Cy Young hopeful Zack Greinke will opt-out of his six-year / $147 million contract – thereby leaving a guaranteed $71 million on the table – the Dodgers 2016 starting rotation becomes even more uncertain and may force Friedman and Zaidi to up the ante if they want to keep Anderson.

But here again, coming off of his best season since 2009 and because of his under-30 age, it is quite possible that there may be several other teams out there willing to roll the dice on Anderson and offer him an even more lucrative multi-year deal – something that the Dodgers may not be willing to do. Keep in mind that the Dodgers have several top pitching prospects who are very close to being MLB-ready – such as 23-year-old right-hander Jose De Leon and 19-year-old left hander Julio Urias.

Many believe that 23-year-old right-hander Jose De Leon will be in the Dodgers starting rotation on Opening Day 2016. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

So, will Brett Anderson be a Dodger in 2016? We could know as early as this time next week.

…stay tuned.

*  *  *  Updated: November 6, 2015 at 1:00 pm PT)  *  *  *

The Dodgers did, in fact, make a qualifying offer to Brett Anderson (and Zack Greinke and Howie Kendrick) on Friday afternoon, November 6, 2015. The players have until 2:00 pm PT on Friday, November 13, 2015 to either accept or decline the qualifying offers. If they decline and sign with another team, the Dodgers will pick up compensatory round draft picks (between the first and second rounds) from the teams that sign them, who will, in turn, forfeit their first-round draft pick if it is beyond the top-10 picks, otherwise they will lose their second-round draft pick.