What is a qualifying offer? I read that Greinke, Kendrick and Anderson of the Dodgers have received qualifying offers.?

If a free agent is extended a qualifying offer, four things are likely to happen:

- he can accept the offer

- he can turn down the offer and negotiate a deal with his former team

- he can turn down the offer and sign with another team, and the new team loses a draft pick, and the former team gets an extra pick

- he can turn down the offer and sign after a cutoff date and the draft compensation is no longer in effect

Teams must make their departing players a qualifying offer in order to be eligible for draft pick compensation. The value of the qualifying offer changes from year to year and is determined by averaging the top 125 player salaries from the previous season.

They get offered at least what the top 125 players make on average. The player can accept or sign elsewhere. If they sign somewhere else, their former team gets a draft pick.

it's an offer of a contract that means the team that had the player can retain the right to negotiate a new contract with that player

so if they sign with someone else they get a draft pick