Although Friday afternoon’s announcement that left-hander Brett Anderson had accepted the Dodgers one-year / 15.8 million qualifying offer (QO) appears to have come as a surprise to some, it most certainly wasn’t to most. In fact, just last week we posted an article here on ThinkBlueLA suggesting that it would be wise for the extremely likable soft-spoken Midland, TX native – who will be 28 years old on February 1 – to accept the Dodgers’ QO and become the first player in MLB history to do so. And although Anderson was beaten to that punch by Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus and Orioles catcher Mike Wieters, he shall forever be known as the first pitcher and National Leaguer to do so.

Within minutes of rumors spreading that Brett Anderson had accepted the Dodgers $15.8 million qualifying offer, he posted this on Twitter.

When the QO system began during the 2012-13 off-season, it came as somewhat of a surprise that no QO-eligible player accepted the then $14.1 million QO – most notably Red Sox infielder Stephen Drew, who eventually signed with the Red Sox a month into the new season but for a much less $10 million. But little did Drew or anyone else know at the time, it would take another four years before the first player(s) would accept their team’s QO.

For those unfamiliar with how the qualifying offer system works, here’s an excellent explanation by MLB Trade Rumors’ Jeff Todd:

• The value of the qualifying offer, which is determined annually by averaging the top 125 player salaries from the previous year.
• All qualifying offers are for the same duration (one year) and the same amount (i.e., $15.8 million for 2015-16).
• Teams have until five days after the World Series to make qualifying offers. At that point the players have seven days to accept.
• Once a team makes a qualifying offer, the player has two choices: he can accept the one-year deal or decline in search of other offers. If he declines the offer and signs elsewhere, his new team will have to surrender a top draft pick (see more on this below).
• If a player accepts a qualifying offer, he cannot be traded (absent consent) until June 15 of the following season (i.e., 2016). Even if a player grants such consent, only $50,000 in cash can be exchanged as part of the trade.
• Teams that sign free agents who turned down qualifying offers will surrender their first unprotected draft pick in the following year’s draft. The first ten selections in the draft are protected. Those clubs would surrender their second-highest selections if they reach terms with a QO-declining free agent.
• Forfeited picks don’t go to other MLB teams (as they used to under the old Type A/B system). Instead, they disappear and the first round is condensed. In turn, teams that lose a player who declined a qualifying offer are awarded a compensatory pick at the end of the first round, before the competitive balance choices.  Such compensation picks are awarded in the inverse order of record. As a result of these rules, the draft order is constantly fluctuating over the off-season.
• When a team re-signs a player that has previously declined a qualifying offer from that team, no draft forfeiture or compensation takes place.
• Only players who have been with their clubs for the entire previous season are eligible for compensation. Thus, players traded mid-season are not eligible to receive a qualifying offer.
• Qualifying offers operate independently of options. Hence, a player can receive a qualifying offer even if their option is declined (whether by team or player) or if they opt out of a deal. (e.g. Zack Greinke).

Armed with this knowledge of how the QO system works, it’s easy to see why Anderson broke away from the stubborn tradition on not accepting a QO. In fact, it was basically tailored exactly for guys like him; guys who are on the very cusp of (possibly) landing a free agent contract that will give them and their families financial security for the rest of their lives but haven’t yet done so for one reason or another. In Anderson’s case it was because he has spent most of his seven MLB seasons on the disabled list for a variety of injuries but ironically never once for an arm issue. Yet in spite of this, there are still those who are critical of Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi for signing Anderson to a one-year / $10 million contract last off-season because of his injury résumé. Color Friedman and Zaidi brilliant on that one.

Having Brett Anderson’s humor on Twitter for another year is reason alone for Dodgers fans to be happy that he’ll be back in 2016. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

No one will argue that Anderson is, at best, a number four or perhaps even a number five starter. In fact, that’s exactly what he was signed to be. But when slated number three starter Hyun-jin Ryu never made it out of spring training with a season-ending shoulder injury and Brandon McCarthy went down to Tommy John surgery less than a month into the new season, Anderson became the Dodgers default number three starter – and he did better than anyone could have hoped. And while his season totals still reflect those of a number four or number five rather than a number three, he had his best season since his rookie year with the Oakland Athletics in 2009 – including career highs in games started (31) and innings pitched (180.1). He also added a cool $2.4 million in incentives to his guaranteed $10 million in 2015 for meeting innings-pitched incentives.

Could Anderson have landed a multi-year free agent deal elsewhere that would have netted him more than the $15.8 million that he’ll receive from the Dodgers in 2016? Probably. But if he can stay healthy and put up similar numbers in 2016, he may very well land that career contract he is chasing next off-season.

Good move, Brett.