Phillies do not extend qualifying offer to first baseman

The Phillies will extend a $20.325M qualifying offer to right-hander Aaron Nola but not to first baseman Rhys Hoskins, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

Hoskins, 30, was an interesting borderline case for a QO. On the one hand, he had slugged 148 home runs in his career and slashed .242/.353/.492 for a wRC+ of 126. But he then missed the entire 2023 season after tearing his left ACL in Spring Training.

That could have been a tricky decision for the Phils but it seems they have opted against giving Hoskins the QO, seemingly expecting that he would have accepted it. That would have been logical from his point of view, returning to a familiar environment while hoping for a bounce-back campaign. A salary of $20.325M for Hoskins would have been reasonable if he were healthy, but it’s also a lot of money to tie up right at the beginning of the offseason, in addition to the risk of him having some rust after the lost season.

The Phils also have some flexibility now that Bryce Harper got playing time at first base in 2023 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery and couldn’t play the outfield. The outfielder picture has Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, Johan Rojas, Brandon Marsh, Cristian Pache and Jake Cave, so perhaps they didn’t want to lock up a first baseman like Hoskins and push Harper back into the outfield on an everyday basis.

This only helps Hoskins out as a free agent, since receiving a QO has a negative effect on a player’s earning power. Being saddled with draft pick forfeiture will cause some clubs to lower how much they are willing to spend on a given player while some others will steer clear of such players completely. By avoiding the QO, Hoskins can avoid any such worries.