Raisel Iglesias rejects Qualifying Offer, casting doubt on his future with LA Angels

Raisel Iglesias has rejected the LA Angels' Qualifying Offer for $18.4 million, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

If Iglesias had accepted this QO, it would have been the biggest one-year deal in baseball history for a reliever. Iglesias, however, sees rejecting this opportunity as a way to get more years out of a new deal.

Iglesias would likely not get more than the $18.4 million in average annual value, but he absolutely can get more years, meaning a more valuable deal from the Angels or somebody else. In fact, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post has the Halos keeping Iglesias on a four-year deal worth $60 million.

Iglesias isn't stupid. He's going to go for a deal like this, and nobody can blame him.

The LA Angels still have a good chance at keeping Raisel Iglesias in Anaheim.

This news of course casts more doubt on the LA Angels keeping Raisel Iglesias, but don't lose all hope.

The last time Iglesias' future was in doubt here in LA, the Angels made it a point to not trade him at the deadline when they knew they could have received a HAUL in return for him.

They're going to do all they can to keep him. They already tipped their hand by not trading him.

It would be tough if they don't sign him because that would mean the Angels would miss out on one of their best players. The silver lining will be that the team that signs him would have to send draft compensation to Anaheim due to the Halos having offered him the QO in the past.

Re-signing Iglesias has always been needed to be a priority for the Halos, as Iglesias is one of very few pitchers the Angels can trust on their staff. Owning one of the top fastballs in baseball, Iglesias was lights out this past year. He recorded 34 saves to go along with a 2.57 ERA, an 0.929 WHIP, and a 174 ERA+.

He struck out a career-high 13.2 batters per nine innings, which is insane. Only walking 1.5 batters per nine frames, Iglesias is pitching some of the best baseball he ever has. They'd be committing to him at the perfect time.