Nov 18th MLB Offseason Deadlines: Player Qualifying offers, Team Rule 5 player protection

Tomorrow MLB players and teams will have some decisions to make. Players have till 4:00 PM ET to accept or reject their qualifying offers.

Teams wishing to protect their Rule 5 draftees on their 40-man rosters will have until 6:00 PM ET to make a decision.

The Toronto Blue Jays only made one qualifying offer this year and that was to Bo Bichette.

Bichette will almost certainly reject his qualifying offer and officially become a free agent making him available to the highest bidder.

Bichette has already stated that he wants to stay in Toronto, and Ross Atkins while keeping his cards close to his chest on the subject said that he will do everything possible to make that happen.

As far as how many Blue Jays are eligible for the Rule 5 draft there are 45 players.

Thomas Nestico has put together an extensive list of every eligible player for the Rule 5 Draft this year.

The most glaring choice for Rule 5 protection on that list for the Blue Jays and an almost sure bet is Ricky Tiedemann.

The former Top 100 prospect was working his way up the minor league ladder before an elbow injury in 2024 saw him land on the IL, eventually undergoing Tommy John surgery.

He missed all of 2025 while rehabbing and should be good to go in the new year.

Over the course of three seasons in the minors, Tiedemann owns a 3.02 ERA and a 1.079 WHIP across 140 innings, with injuries limiting his time on the mound since being drafted in 2021.

When healthy, he's a strikeout artist, crafting a 14.5 K/9 with 226 strikeouts across all four levels in the Jays system.