According to Alex Speier, Mike Napoli will receive a QO today of $14.1mm and will have seven days to decide to accept or reject the offer.
According to a baseball source, the Red Sox will make a one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer to free agent first baseman Mike Napoli by the 5 p.m. deadline to do so today. If Napoli accepts the qualifying offer (which represents the average of the top 125 salaries in baseball in 2013), then he would return to the Red Sox in 2014 for a raise over the $13 million he received in 2013 (a one-year, $5 million base salary with roster incentives that added an additional $8 million to the deal). If he declines, then he can continue to negotiate with all 30 teams, including the Red Sox. If, however, Napoli signs with a team other than the Sox, then because of the qualifying offer, the Sox would receive a compensatory draft pick between the first and second rounds of the draft.
The impact of the qualifying offer is thus twofold. Not only does it ensure that the Sox would receive a draft pick if the first baseman leaves; by virtue of the fact that a team that signs Napoli would need to give up a draft pick, it also could decrease the market for his services, thus potentially increasing the likelihood that the Sox will be able to bring him back.