The Major League Baseball offseason is in full swing after the Milwaukee Brewers won their first World Series in franchise history. Prior to Monday’s 4pm CT deadline, the Minnesota Twins had to decide what they were going to do with their 40-man roster.

Quietly, they put reliever Jack Anderson on waivers, and it cost them his services. The 26-year-old righty reliever was claimed by Derek Falvey and the New York Mets, dashing the Twins’ hopes to sneak him off the 40-man roster.

However, the most notable move of the day was always going to revolve around catcher Ryan Jeffers, who was set to hit the open market unless he received a qualifying offer from the MN Twins.

Ryan Jeffers in line for a MN Twins payday

This free agent class is not highly regarded as a whole, and as is typically the case, there aren’t many options at the catcher position. Ryan Jeffers would undoubtedly be the best of the bunch. But now, he’s going to cost an acquiring team draft pick compensation.

If Jeffers stays on the qualifying offer, he will will make $23.15 million for 2027. That number represents the average of the 125 highest-paid players across the sport. Jeffers will now have until November 17 at 3pm CT to accept or reject the offer.

His interest in signing for that amount will hinge entirely on whether or not he believes a more lucrative multi-year deal awaits him in free agency. Jeffers, who’s made it clear he loves Minnesota, will be 30 next season and is coming off a year in which he batted .256 with an .814 OPS.

Jeffers’ 127 OPS+ was a career-high, and he looked destined for his first All-Star nod before suffering a broken hamate bone. he wasn’t quite the same guy, after he returned from the broken bone in his hand.

In 55 games after returning from the injury, he batted .231 with a .727 OPS and posted a rather abysmal .182 average and .595 OPS across 18 games in September. It’s typical for a hamate injury to sap a player’s power for the rest of that season, but the timing couldn’t have been worse for Jeffers, entering such an important offseason.

Are MN Twins actually going to pay Jeffers?

What happens to Jeffers from here remains a mystery for now. The Twins would be on the hook to pay one player virtually one-fourth of what their entire outlay was a season ago. Given the need to expand payroll, that shouldn’t matter. Extending the offer in and of itself is a good sign.

Still, it’s most likely Jeffers rejects the qualifying offer and looks for a longer-term deal elsewhere. Even at 30 years old, he still has significant value in the short term. A two- or three-year deal in the $50-60 million range seems pretty sensible.

Should Jeffers sign with a new team, the Minnesota Twins will be in line for draft pick compensation. Where that pick lands depends on who signs him. Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll and his front office may be waiting a while to find out what that looks like.

Of course, Jeffers could also wind up back with the organization after entering free agency. Minnesota wouldn’t forfeit a pick but wouldn’t gain one in that situation either.