More contract news rolling in. We're 30 days from the lockout. So I'd expect it to be a decently busy November with news. Free agents are going to know there will a few months where they can't negotiate with teams, so some of the lesser sought after free agents might want to lock in a deal while they can.
That's just speculation, though. It could also be the case that both sides just want to wait and see what the new rules look like with the new CBA before doing anything.
But these options are being chosen or declined, so let's update the list.
Options Exercised (Players Staying)
- Drew Rasmussen, Rays: Tampa Bay exercised his $20M club option, which climbed from an $8M base through health and innings escalators. Blurb: The AL champion Rays picked up Drew Rasmussen's $20M option after a career year (2.67 ERA, 172 IP). It's the most Tampa has ever paid a player for one season, so keep an eye on the trade market.
Yesterday, Nick Martinez declined his side of the mutual option, making him a free agent. He'll have a lot to thank the Rays for when he lands a nice MLB contract after his breakout 2026 season. It's just a question about if he can take that new success with him to a new environment. That'll be interesting to watch. But the Rays are locking in on Drew Rasmussen, and $20 million seems like a pretty nice price for the guy coming off 172 innings of a 2.67 ERA and 0.91 WHIP.
- Luis Severino, Athletics: He exercised his $22M player option. MLBTR Blurb: Luis Severino is staying put and will head the A's rotation in their final Sacramento season.
Remember Luis Severino? His season ended early last year, but he's getting all three years out of this big (surprising at the time) three-year deal the Athletics gave him two offseasons ago. There were some good signs with Severino before the injury. His K% was up and he was doing some good things, if he were a free agent right now, there's no way he'd be getting anywhere near $20 million AAV. So he's happy to take the money to go have a rough season in 2027 with the rest of the Athletics rotation as they have to complete one more year playing in Sacramento.
- Yandy Díaz, Rays: His $10M option turned into a guaranteed $13M for 2027 after he reached 500 plate appearances and finished the season healthy. Marc Topkin reported it was finalized.
Options Declined (Players Leaving)
- Luis Robert Jr., Orioles: Baltimore declined his $20M option and pays a $2M buyout. It's official now. MLB.com
He'll head to his fourth team this offseason. I'm sure somebody wants to bet on the skillset, but it was another very poor year for Robert.
- Nick Pivetta, Padres: San Diego declined his $14M option, which kicked in after he spent more than 130 days on the injured list.
Pivetta can still play. 24.3% K-BB% and 3.17 SIERA in 34.2 innings in 2026 after a 2.87 ERA last year. It's just a matter of health. I think he'll grab another 1-2 year deal with a contender and potentially have a nice season.
- Eugenio Suárez, Reds: Cincinnati declined his $16M mutual option, which had no buyout. Blurb: His second stint in Cincinnati looks over after a 26-homer season.
This might be the end for Suarez, at least it should be as far as fantasy league consideration should go. He hit .212/.307/.433 with 26 homers, so he can still hit the long ball at a good rate. But when he's not doing that, he's killing you, and he's probably a DH-only type. Seems to me like he'll find another one-year deal somewhere, but it's not an exciting name to sign any longer.
- Pierce Johnson, Reds: The Reds declined his $8M mutual option and pay a $1M buyout. He had a 4.62 ERA in 48.2 innings.
- Emilio Pagán, Reds: He declined his $10M player option, according to Francys Romero.
