Max Scherzer, Victor Martinez turn down Detroit Tigers qualifying offer; officially become free agents

It comes as a shocker to no one, but Max Scherzer and Victor Martinez each turned down the Detroit Tigers qualifying offer. The players now officially become free agents and are free to sign with any team in baseball.

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The Tigers presented their star players with the offers 10 days ago and they had today at 5 p.m. to either accept or turn down the one-year, $15.3 million deal. No one actually expected them to accept and really it is largely a ceremonial move. Of teams extending qualifying offers to free agents following the last two seasons, all 22 turned them down.

Detroit made two of the 12 qualifying offers in baseball this year after making none the last couple seasons. All 12 rejected the deals.

The qualifying offer serves only to offer the team some protection should Max and/or V-Mart sign elsewhere. If that happens the Tigers will receive a compensatory draft pick for one or both of the players.

So now the market is truly open for free agents. Who will the Tigers retain? Who will walk and who will the team sign from other teams? The next week or two should be very interesting to say the least.