American League single-season home run king Aaron Judge, ace pitcher Jacob deGrom and All-Star shortstop Trea Turner were among the 14 free agents to receive qualifying offers from their most recent teams by Thursday’s deadline.

The qualifying offer is for a one-year contract worth $19.65 million, the average of the top 125 salaries in Major League Baseball.

Teams can make the qualifying offer to their own players as they enter free agency, though most players turn it down in favor of a longer-term contract either with their old club or elsewhere.

Players have 10 days to decide whether to accept the qualifying offer.

The full list of 14 free agents with qualifying offers:

–Dansby Swanson, Atlanta Braves
–Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox
–Nathan Eovaldi, Boston Red Sox
–Willson Contreras, Chicago Cubs
–Tyler Anderson, Los Angeles Dodgers
–Trea Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers
–Chris Bassitt, New York Mets
–Jacob deGrom, New York Mets
–Brandon Nimmo, New York Mets
–Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
–Anthony Rizzo, New York Yankees
–Joc Pederson, San Francisco Giants
–Carlos Rodon, San Francisco Giants
–Martin Perez, Texas Rangers

–Field Level Media

Mike Trout won his ninth career Louisville Silver Slugger Award on Thursday night, the most Silver Sluggers ever won by an American League outfielder.

Trout surpassed Manny Ramirez, who held the previous high mark for AL outfielders with eight.

Trout batted .283 and hit 40 home runs, 28 doubles and 80 RBIs in 2022, his 12th MLB season.

There were 10 first-time winners, including AL batting champion Luis Arraez of the Minnesota Twins and National League batting champ Jeff McNeil of the New York Mets. Arraez batted .316 in 2022 with eight homers, 31 doubles and 49 RBIs. McNeil led the majors with a .326 average and hit nine home runs, 39 doubles and 62 RBIs.

Joining them as first-timers were Brandon Drury and Josh Bell of the San Diego Padres, Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies, Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros, Alejandro Kirk of the Toronto Blue Jays, Nathaniel Lowe of the Texas Rangers, Julio Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners and Trea Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Louisville Slugger added a utility player category for the first time, as did Rawlings with their Gold Glove Awards. Arraez and Drury claimed their Silver Sluggers as utility players out of the AL and NL, respectively.

The full list of winners is below:

American League
C: Alejandro Kirk (Toronto)
1B: Nathaniel Lowe (Texas)
2B: Jose Altuve (Houston)
3B: Jose Ramirez (Cleveland)
SS: Xander Bogaerts (Boston)
OF: Aaron Judge (New York), Mike Trout (Los Angeles), Julio Rodriguez (Seattle)
DH: Yordan Alvarez (Houston)
UTIL: Luis Arraez (Minnesota)

National League
C: J.T. Realmuto (Philadelphia)
1B: Paul Goldschmit (St. Louis)
2B: Jeff McNeil (New York)
3B: Nolan Arenado (St. Louis)
SS: Trea Turner (Los Angeles)
OF: Mookie Betts (Los Angeles), Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia), Juan Soto (San Diego)
DDH: Josh Bell (San Diego)
UTIL: Brandon Drury (San Diego)

–Field Level Media

San Diego Padres right-handed relief pitcher Robert Suarez agreed to a five-year contract to stay with the club, multiple reports said Thursday.

Per MLB Network, the deal is worth $46 million with an opt-out clause after the third year.

Suarez made his Major League Baseball debut in April and appeared in 45 games, going 5-1 with a 2.27 ERA and one save. He threw 61 strikeouts and allowed 21 walks.

He also helped the Padres during their postseason run. Suarez appeared in seven games and did not allow a run over the first five appearances, across six innings. He took the loss in the Philadelphia Phillies’ Game 5 victory in the National League Championship Series, giving up Bryce Harper’s go-ahead two-run home run.

Earlier Thursday, Suarez declined his player option for 2023, opening the lane for a new deal.

The Padres also declined the club option for outfielder/first baseman Wil Myers, while outfielder Jurickson Profar and right-handed pitcher Nick Martinez also declined their player options for 2023.

–Field Level Media

The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired first baseman Ji-Man Choi from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league pitcher Jack Hartman on Thursday.

Choi, 31, played four-plus seasons with the Rays after brief stints with the Los Angeles Angels (2016), New York Yankees (2017) and Milwaukee Brewers (2018). He is a career .239 hitter with 61 home runs and 225 RBIs over 486 games.

The South Korea native played 113 games for the Rays in 2022 — including 92 starts at first base and 10 at designated hitter — and batted .233 with 11 homers and 52 RBIs.

Hartman, a 24-year-old right-hander, was a fourth-round draft pick in 2020 and spent the 2022 season with Class-A Bradenton. He went 0-1 with a 6.27 ERA in 22 bullpen appearances.

–Field Level Media

The Tampa Bay Rays declined the $13 million option for 2023 on defensive standout Kevin Kiermaier, making the club’s longtime center fielder a free agent.

The three-time Gold Glove winner received a $2.5 million buyout and became a free agent.

Kiermaier spent nine-plus major league seasons with the Rays and batted .248 with 82 homers, 316 RBIs and 112 stolen bases.

“I am the luckiest man on the planet to have been a part of @RaysBaseball for 12 years,” Kiermaier posted to Twitter on Thursday. “They gave me an opportunity and I ran with it. Impossible to express how much I love everything here in tampa/st pete. I was damn proud to wear that jersey every single day.”

I am the luckiest man on the planet to have been a part of ?@RaysBaseball? for 12 years. They gave me an opportunity and I ran with it. Impossible to express how much I love everything here in tampa/st pete. I was damn proud to wear that jersey every single day. pic.twitter.com/cM7m5CNlDl

— Kevin Kiermaier (@KKiermaier39) November 10, 2022

Kiermaier, 32, experienced a tough season in 2022 as he was limited to 63 games due to injuries. He didn’t play after July 9 and underwent season-ending hip surgery in August.

Kiermaier batted .228 with seven homers and 22 RBIs.

Tampa Bay is moving forward with Jose Siri as its center fielder but general manager Peter Bendix said it is possible Kiermaier could return to the franchise.

“He means so much to the organization. He’s always going to be someone who is going to be in the Rays’ Hall of Fame one day,” Bendix told MLB.com. “I think we’ll be open to bringing him back next year, potentially. I think he’ll probably want to see what his opportunities are. Obviously, our outfield is pretty crowded. There’s a lot to talk through. But he’s such a huge part of the success that we’ve had for the last 10 years — like, he’s always going to have a really special place.”

–Field Level Media

The New York Mets picked up right-hander Carlos Carrasco’s $14 million option for 2023.

The move, announced Thursday by the club, gives the Mets at least two starters from their 2022 rotation. Max Scherzer is also under contract for 2023.

The New York Post reported Thursday that the Mets will not extend the qualifying offer of $19.65 million to Taijuan Walker, the team’s No. 5 starter in 2022.

However, the Mets will extend QOs to right-handers Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and outfielder Brandon Nimmo, per the Post.

The Mets also picked up the $775,000 option on right-hander John Curtiss, who missed the entire 2022 season after Tommy John surgery.

Carrasco, 35, went 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA in 29 starts this past season. His wins and starts were the most since 2018, when he was still with Cleveland.

Carrasco is 104-85 with a 3.87 ERA in 283 career games (236 starts).

–Field Level Media

Third baseman Evan Longoria told the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday that the San Francisco Giants declined to pick up his $13 million option for 2023.

Longoria told the Chronicle he was informed of the decision by Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. Longoria is now a free agent and said he would be interested in returning to San Francisco if there is mutual interest.

Longoria will receive a $5 million buyout.

“They have decided not to pick up the option,” Longoria told the Chronicle. “We will keep dialogue open on a potential return. In the meantime, I look forward to exploring all the free-agent market has. It should be a great one for the whole game.”

Longoria said he would be interested in playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks or Tampa Bay Rays. He began his career with Tampa Bay and spent 10 seasons with the club before being traded to the Giants after the 2017 season.

Longoria, a three-time All-Star, batted just .244 with 14 homers and 42 RBIs in 89 games in 2022, his fifth season with the Giants.

Overall, he has a .265 average with 331 homers and 1,131 RBIs in 1,912 career games. He was American League Rookie of the Year in 2008.

–Field Level Media

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu is not returning to the team, but he could stay in Chicago.

According to 670 The Score, Abreu has a “zero percent” chance of re-signing with the White Sox. He hit .304 with 15 home runs and 78 RBIs with an OPS of .824 last season, but the White Sox are moving toward using one of their other designated hitter types at first base, according to the report.

The Cubs are planning to “act quickly” when the 35-year-old officially hits the open market, the report states.

On the North Side, the team’s top free agent is catcher Willson Contreras. But Contreras is expected to turn down a qualifying offer and be highly coveted in free agency.

Abreu is a career .292 hitter with 243 home runs and 863 RBIs since joining the White Sox in 2014. The Cuban defected to enter the United States and hit 36 home runs and 35 doubles as a 27-year-old rookie with the White Sox.

–Field Level Media

San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi isn’t hiding his game plan for the offseason.

He is thinking big in free agency — starting with the biggest prize available, Aaron Judge. And he apparently is willing to open up the checkbook.

“I think everybody is dealing with that same trade-off between concentrating some sort of financial resources on one or two roster spots versus being able to hit up on multiple spots,” Zaidi told reporters Wednesday at the MLB general managers meeting in Las Vegas. “But I think from a financial standpoint, there’s nobody that would be sort of out of our capability to meet what we expect the contract demands will be. So then it will just be a question of whether there is mutual interest and how we put together the best possible team. It’s not going to be about any one player.”

The Giants have $105.1 million committed to their 2023 roster, according to the website Cot’s Baseball Contracts. That ranks them 19th in baseball in terms of upcoming spending.

USA Today reported that Judge isn’t the only player on the Giants’ wish list. Zaidi also could pursue one of the top-notch shortstops available — Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa or Trea Turner — as well as a top line pitcher, such as Jacob deGrom.

Judge turned down a seven-year contract extension offer worth $213.5 million from the New York Yankees before the season started. After setting the American League home run record with 62, Judge will be seeking a whopping contract, with the asking price predicted to be at least the $35.5 million a year the Los Angeles Angels pay Mike Trout.

The Giants undoubtedly hope that playing just a couple of hours from his hometown of Linden, Calif., will appeal to the 30-year-old outfielder and are working on a detailed sales pitch for him, USA Today reported.

“I think they will be very, very aggressive because they’ve got a proven market and the economic ability to attract a number of free agents,” said agent Scott Boras, who does not represent Judge, per USA Today.

The Giants could use Judge to put a power jolt into the team and fans in the seats. No Giants player has hit at least 30 home runs since Barry Bonds had 45 in 2004.

The team drew at least 3 million fans for nine straight seasons (2010-18), but only 2.48 million went through the turnstiles in 2022.

Free agents can begin signing with new teams Thursday at 5 p.m.

–Field Level Media