The qualifying offer amount in Major League Baseball (MLB) has increased by $10 million over the 14 years since it was first introduced in 2012.

The Associated Press reported today (October 20) that the qualifying offer salary for this season is $23.15 million (approx. 307.55 billion won), marking a 5.1% increase from last year's $22.025 million.

A qualifying offer is a system where a player's original team offers a one-year contract to a free agent (FA) based on the average salary of the top 125 earners in the big leagues.

If a free agent judges that market conditions are unfavorable for a long-term contract, they can choose to accept the team's offer.

If a player rejects their original team's offer and signs with another team, the original team receives a draft pick next year from the player's new signing team.

When it first debuted in 2012, the qualifying offer amount was $13.3 million.

So far, only 18 out of 157 players have accepted the qualifying offer.

Ryu Hyun-jin (currently with the Hanwha Eagles) accepted the team's qualifying offer at the end of 2018 while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, receiving an annual salary of $17.9 million, and after the 2019 season, signed a four-year, $80 million long-term FA contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Teams present qualifying offers to free agents five days after the World Series ends, and players must announce whether they accept or reject the offer within a week.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)