Ryan Jeffers to decline Twins’ $23.15 million qualifying offer, seek long-term deal

LAS VEGAS – Ryan Jeffers intends to decline his one-year, $23.15 million qualifying offer, a source told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Wednesday. But the Twins will try to sign him to a long-term deal. Declining the qualifying offer was an expected outcome for the best catcher on the free-agent market as he pursues a multi-year contract. Players have until Nov. 17 to accept qualifying offers. The Twins will receive a compensatory draft pick if he signs elsewhere, but they’re hopeful they can re-sign him. The first order of business for members of the Twins front office staff this week, when they arrived at Major League Baseball’s General Managers Meetings, was a visit with Jeffers’ agent Scott Boras. Advertisement “We have made clear that we’d love to have him back, not just in a [qualifying offer] scenario, but in other scenarios too,” General Manager Jeremy Zoll said. The Twins saw it as an easy decision to give Jeffers the offer, especially after they decided to hold onto him past the Aug. 3 trade deadline . The 29-year-old Jeffers is turning down a $23.15 million salary, which would’ve been the highest for a catcher next year, for a likely higher long-term total. Despite missing a couple of months with a broken hamate, Jeffers had a great year in the batter’s box with a .256 batting average, 14 homers, 56 RBI and an .814 OPS.