A week of key dates brings us later today to players accepting or declining the $21.05 million qualifying offer. Decisions must be made by 4 p.m.

This one is easy to predict.

Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander are expected to decline it and dive into free agency. They have rich long-term deals waiting for them. They aren’t settling for anything less.

Burnes is the top starter on the market and the Orioles are keeping the door open for a return. Santander is coming off a 44-homer season and will attract plenty of suitors. His value has never been higher.

The Orioles will receive a draft pick if Burnes and Santander sign with other clubs. That’s why you make the qualifying offer, which only applied to players who haven’t received one in the past and spent the entire season with the team. No deadline additions.

Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon, to no one's surprise, turned down qualifying offers from the Nationals before today's deadline, leaving both free agents open to sign with any of Major League Baseball's 30 clubs while ensuring the Nats would receive draft pick compensation if either of them plays elsewhere in 2020. The one-year, $17.8 million qualifying offer was extended to 10 major league free agents, including Strasburg and Rendon, on Nov. 4. The players could have accepted the offer...

Bryce Harper has declined the qualifying offer extended to him 10 days ago, an expected move that now ensures the Nationals will get draft-pick compensation if the star outfielder signs with another club this winter. The Nationals extended the offer - one year for $17.9 million, a figure predetermined by Major League Baseball - as required Nov. 2, then technically had to wait 10 days before Harper was required to make his decision. Not that his decision was ever in doubt. Harper, who made...

The Nationals will submit a qualifying offer to Bryce Harper before today's 5 p.m., a club source confirmed, the latest of several procedural steps that are set to be taken as the star outfielder enters free agency. The qualifying offer - a one-year contract worth $17.9 million - is required if the Nationals want to receive draft-pick compensation should Harper ultimately sign with another club, though today's move doesn't change the likelihood of him either staying or going. Harper has 10...

The Nationals will not extend a qualifying offer to Wilson Ramos before today's 5 p.m. EST deadline, according to a source familiar with the decision, making the rehabbing catcher a free agent who can now sign with any club in baseball. The decision, which had been expected since Ramos suffered a major knee injury in late September, doesn't prevent him from re-signing with the Nationals this winter. But it both makes his departure more likely and prevents the Nats from receiving any...

Former Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond not only has a new team and a new league, he has a new position. At 30, Desmond signed for $8 million to play left field for the Texas Rangers. Desmond has played four games in the outfield during his career. He'll get the advantage of playing 15 home games in Texas during April. Desmond, who hit .233 last season, goes to Boston's Fenway Park to battle the Green Monster the first week in July. The Rangers' plan was to use Josh Hamilton in left field,...

The qualifying offer is sure to come up during labor negotiations this year as the players and owners work on a new collective bargaining agreement. Some believe the system is broken, but I do not agree. This year, teams extended 20 players qualifying offers, which meant those players could re-sign with their club and take the one year offer for $15.8 million or go on to test the free agent market. The catch for players that turn down a qualifying offer is that a team signing them now loses a...

Ian Desmond won't play for the Nationals next year. The 30-year-old, who was drafted by the Expos and has played his entire career in Washington, declined the club's $15.8 million qualifying offer today. The Nationals are still waiting on right-hander Jordan Zimmermann to decide on his qualifying offer. The deadline is 5 p.m. today. Desmond enters the free agent market for the first time and is expected to command a multi-year deal worth at least $75 million. The Mets, Padres, Diamondbacks...