Buster Olney reported this afternoon that the Cleveland Indians are not likely to give LF Michael Brantley a qualifying offer before he elects for free agency.
Sources: The Indians are not expected to tender a $17.9m qualifying offer to outfielder Michael Brantley by today's deadline.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 2, 2018
The rules surrounding qualifying offers are a little dense, but Anthony Castrovince offers a fairly concise explanation that is relevant to this situation:
The amount of the qualifying offer is the mean salary of the league’s 125 highest-paid players.