Colby Rasmus to accept qualifying offer from Astros, per Ken Rosenthal

Colby Rasmus will accept the qualifying offer tendered to him by the Houston Astros, keeping him in Houston on a 1 year, $15.8 million deal, according to Ken Rosenthal.  Rasmus will be the first player to have accepted the qualifying offer since the QO system was put in place.

There had been speculation that Rasmus would be the most likely player in this year's class to accept the qualifying offer, as he was unlikely to get a huge free agent contract, and was reportedly more comfortable playing for the Astros than he was in St. Louis or Toronto, his previous two teams.

While Rasmus was, on the surface, a curious player to extend the qualifying offer to, he had a decent .238/.314/.475 slash line with a 2.6 bWAR.  His ability to play all three outfielder positions gives the Astros increased flexibility, and Houston's has small enough payroll commitments that his accepting the offer is unlikely to significantly impact their ability to pursue other free agents this offseason.