Baseball-Major League Baseball roundup

Reuters

Nov 13 (The Sports Xchange) - New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy declined the team's one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offer Friday. Toronto Blue Jays left-hander David Price and Orioles slugger Chris Davis also declined the offers and will be among the most coveted players on the market. Murphy, who hit seven home runs in the playoffs and set a record with home runs in six games in a row, was just 3-for-20 in the World Series and made a critical error to contribute to the winning Game Four rally by the Kansas City Royals. Kansas City scored three runs after Murphy's misplay of a routine ground ball. He batted .278 with 14 homers in the regular season. --- Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, Houston Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus and Los Angeles Dodgers left-handed pitcher Brett Anderson accepted the one-year qualifying offers of $15.8 million for the 2016 season. They were the first to accept qualifying offers since the system began as a tool to give teams protection from losing star players. The offers extended by their present teams, determined by averaging the top 125 salaries of the 2015 season, guaranteed draft pick compensation for clubs when lost free agents signed with new teams. Wieters passed on the opportunity to become a free agent after two injury ravaged seasons. He played in just 26 games in 2014 and 75 last season after topping 20 homers in three straight years (2011-13). Rasmus, 29, hit a career-high 25 homers and knocked in 61 runs while making $8 million in 2015, his first year in Houston. He batted just .238 with a .314 on-base percentage. Anderson, 27, was 10-9 with a 3.69 ERA with the Dodgers. --- Right-hander Marco Estrada agreed to a two-year contract extension to remain with the Toronto Blue Jays instead of exploring free agency. Estrada will sign a two-year, $26 million deal with the team instead of accepting the one-year, $15.8 million qualifying offer. Estrada went 12-8 and ranked fifth in the AL with a 3.13 ERA for the East Division winners. (Editing by Larry Fine) ))