Joc Pederson one of two players to accept qualifying offers, 12 decline

Joc Pederson accepted the San Francisco Giants' $19.65 million qualifying offer on Tuesday and will be back with the team for a second season. Pederson, 30, was an All-Star last season for the second time in his career. He batted .274 with 23 homers and 70 RBIs in 134 games. Left-hander Martin Perez of the Texas Rangers was the only other player to accept a qualifying offer. A dozen other players declined before Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET deadline. Pederson, a two-time All-Star outfielder, has 171 homers and 434 RBIs in 1,019 games over nine big league seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2014-20), Chicago Cubs (2021), Atlanta Braves (2021) and Giants. He has a .237 career batting average and is slugging .470. Perez, 31, made the American League All-Star team in 2022 and finished 12-8 with a 2.89 ERA in 32 starts. Players who officially rejected the qualifying offer are right-handers Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Nathan Eovaldi; left-handers Tyler Anderson and Carlos Rodon; catcher Willson Contreras, first baseman Anthony Rizzo, shortstops Xander Bogaerts, Dansby Swanson and Trea Turner and outfielders Aaron Judge and Brandon Nimmo. The 12 players are free agents and their former clubs will receive compensation should they sign with a new team. Rizzo reportedly re-signed with the New York Yankees on Tuesday, while Anderson signed with the Los Angeles Angels after playing last season for the Los Angeles Dodgers. --Field Level Media