The Yankees are set to give one of their big bats a qualifying offer.
The Post’s Jon Heyman reported Tuesday morning that the Yankees are expected to give first baseman Anthony Rizzo the one-year, $19.65 million qualifying offer.
It’s unclear whether the 33-year-old will accept it, given he opted out of the final year of his contract that would have paid him $16 million in 2023 to become a free agent. Teams have until Thursday to extend qualifying offers, and players then have 10 days to either accept or reject the deal.
Rizzo, in his first full season with the Yankees after he was acquired from the Cubs before the 2021 trade deadline, had a .224/.338/.480 slash line with 32 home runs, 75 RBIs and 77 runs scored in 2022.
The three-time All-Star had a strong postseason, slashing .276/.432/.552 with two home runs and eight RBIs. He did not show his hand when asked about his future after the Yankees were swept by the Astros in the ALCS.
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“At this point, my wife and I will sit down with my agents and we’ll talk about all that,” Rizzo said after the Game 4 loss. “But I’ve told them since signing the deal we’re not going to talk about it until after the season. Now in the next few weeks, it’s time to talk about it.”
With the 2022 MLB GM meetings getting underway Tuesday in Las Vegas, the Yankees’ top priority is trying to retain Aaron Judge, who is a free agent after a historic season in which he broke Roger Maris’ team and American League record by hitting 62 home runs runs.
Before the season started, Judge turned down a seven-year, $213 million contract extension from the Yankees. He went on to have what will likely be an MVP season, slashing .311/.425/.686 with 131 RBIs and 133 runs scored.
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