Shohei Ohtani, who is an FA = free agent from the Angels of the big leagues, rejected a one-year contract with an annual salary of about 30 billion yen called "qualifying offer" presented by the Angels. Negotiations will continue with all clubs, including the Angels, and discussions will continue to determine where they will be next season.
In Major League Baseball, there is a system in which the former club can offer a player who has become an FA a one-year contract called a "qualifying offer".
The annual salary offered was the average of the top 1 players of the year, and this year it was an all-time high of $125,2032,5000, or about 30,5500 million yen in Japan yen.
However, it is customary for most FA star players to reject the FA because they are expected to sign a more expensive multi-year contract.
Seven FA players, including Ohtani, Padres pitcher Snell, and Cubs player Bellinger, were due to respond at 7 a.m. on the 14th and 15th Japan time, and according to the Major League Baseball Players Association, all of them, including Ohtani, refused.
Negotiations will continue with all clubs, including the Angels, and discussions will continue to determine where they will be next season.
If an FA player who rejects a qualifying offer and eventually moves to another club, the original club will be given the right to pick him in next year's draft as compensation.
All seven players who received the offer declined, leaving only 6 of the 7 players who have accepted the offer since the program began in 2012 in Major League Baseball.