Teams looking for draft pick compensation from their free-agent players will need to tender a qualifying offer valued between $13.3-$13.4 million, according to Buster Olney of ESPN. It had originally been believed teams would need to offer a one-year, $12.5 million deal to their free-agent player.

The qualifying offer to free agents --required to get draft-pick compensation-- will be in $13.3-$13.4m range, rather than expected $12.5m.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) August 1, 2012

With the Type A and Type B system abolished, teams now need to offer their free-agent player(s) a one-year qualifying offer valued in the $13.3-4 million range. If the player turns down the qualifying offer and signs elsewhere, his previous team will receive one draft pick as compensation. The new system puts a premium on draft picks and also makes it more difficult on teams.

For example, it had been rumored the Chicago Cubs planned on offering the one-year qualifying offer to Ryan Dempster if they were unable to find a taker for him at the trade deadline. Personally, it's hard for me to see Dempster turning down that deal even if it is just for one season. Of course, this is just a hypothetical that we won't know the answer to, but we will see similar scenarios for teams and players this off-season and years to come.

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Is the qualifying free agent offer value too high?

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