Red Sox starting pitcher Nick Pivetta has declined the team’s one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer and will become a free agent, a source confirmed to the Herald.

Pivetta was one of 13 players league-wide who was extended a qualifying offer, which is a one-year deal worth the average salary of MLB’s 125 highest-paid players. Clubs can extend qualifying offers to pending free agents as long as that player has never received a qualifying offer before and spent the entire season on that team’s roster, and if a player declines the offer and signs with another team, their original club will receive a draft pick as compensation.

Compensatory draft picks can be extremely valuable. Top Red Sox prospects Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell, who rank No. 1 and 24 on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list, were selected with compensatory picks acquired after losing Eduardo Rodriguez and Xander Bogaerts, respectively.

Boston’s decision to extend Pivetta a qualifying offer was somewhat surprising. The most Pivetta has ever earned in a season is $7.5 million, so Pivetta could have nearly tripled his salary by accepting the offer. It’s also no sure thing he’ll land a deal worth more than $21 million annually on the open market, so Pivetta could have conceivably taken the higher short-term dollars in hopes of landing a lucrative long-term deal in free agency next winter.

But the right-hander’s market has apparently developed to a point where it made sense for Pivetta to cash in now.

Since joining the Red Sox in 2020 Pivetta has established himself as a durable workhorse and a reliable mid-rotation starter. He’s posted a 4.29 ERA over 633 innings as a member of the Red Sox, by far the most on the team over that stretch, and over the past two seasons he’s emerged as one of the game’s most overpowering arms, posting 355 strikeouts over 288.1 innings since the start of 2023.

That resume should make Pivetta an attractive option for clubs looking to bolster their rotation depth, and The Athletic projects Pivetta will receive a three-year, $48 million deal this winter. If that comes to pass Pivetta would ensure himself long-term job and financial security, and should he sign anywhere but Boston the Red Sox would also net themselves an additional draft pick while opening a rotation spot to potentially add an ace.