The Major League Baseball qualifying offer has dropped by $500,000 to $18.4 million.

The figure is determined by the average of the top 125 Major League contracts this year and marks only the second time that the price has fallen.

A qualifying offer can be made through the fifth day after the World Series, and a player has a week after that to accept.

If a team makes a qualifying offer to a player who signs a contract with another club before the amateur draft, his former club would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round or at the end of competitive balance round B.