St. Petersburg, FL-- The Rays made a one-year qualifying offer to free agent outfielder B.J. Upton, by Friday's 5pm deadline.

The offer was worth $13.3 million. Under new MLB rules, the Rays had to make that offer if they want a compensatory draft choice, if Upton leaves in free agency.

And it's fully expected that Upton will leave. He's in line for a multi-year, multi-million-dollar offer, from some team in free agency. He has a week to decide whether to accept the offer, or test the market.

Upton hit a career-high 28 homers last season, with 78 RBI's, and 31 stolen bases.

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