Both Ervin Santana and Francisco Lirano have surprisingly turned down qualifying offers.
A year after finding his market dry as he was tied to draft pick compensation, Santana is set to try his luck again. He made 31 starts for the Braves in 2014 posting a 3.95 ERA. He had topped 175 innings pitched in five of the last six seasons.
It was also a surprise to found out that Lirano has opted to test the market. It was not a given that Pittsburgh would even offer the 31-year-old a qualifying offer but alas he has turned it down. Lirano had a 3.38 ERA and 175/81 K/BB ratio over 162 2/3 innings this season.
The qualifying offers for both was $15.3 million. The Pirates would like to bring Litano back while the Braves would have been fine with Santana accepting the offer but now figure to look elsewhere.
