Welcome to the new look MLB Data Warehouse!
It's that time of year when teams and players start exercising options. I love it when some team gives a guy a big contract and a player option near the end of it, and then that player sucks horribly for them, and then makes sure to immediately exercise that option.
Tatsuya Imai was one of those guys yesterday. His options were to take $18 million and accept another opt-out next year, or hit free agency and see what he could get after a 76.2-inning season with a 4.93 ERA. He wasn't quite as bad as that (13.6% K-BB%, 4.26 SIERA). It was his first year in the States. It's not too late. If nothing else, he could be a pretty solid reliever. But I don't think the Astros would choose to give him $18 million.
Other Player Opt-Ins:
- Bo Bichette accepts $42 million after posting a .702 OPS with 18 homers in his first year with the Mets. His defense is also very bad.
- Ryan Helsley exercised his option for $14 million to stay with the Orioles.
- Corbin Burnes will not opt out, so he'll keep the $35 million per year coming in to the accounts after getting back from surgery at the end of 2026 and throwing 10.2 innings. Seems unlikely to me that he'll ever be worth $35 million/year again, but it could work out okay for the D'Backs. They'll be happy to have him back in the rotation.
Team Options Exercised:
- The Braves exercised the $17 million option on Ronald Acuna Jr., GOOD CALL.
- Atlanta brings back Ozzie Albies on a $7 million club option.
- Andres Munoz will be the Mariner closer for $9 million next year after the Mariners got to exercising.
- The Royals are going to see what they can squeeze out of Tony Gonsolin for $2.5 million.
Declined Options:
- Michael King hits free agency after opting out. He could've banked $28 million with the Padres, but he thinks he can do better than that in this free agent class.
- Dustin May took the World Series ring and ran, declining a $20 million option. He was not very good in 2026 overall, so that was an interesting one. I guess he'll be looking for a multi-year deal.
- Clay Holmes did the same, choosing free agency over the $12 million dollar option he had to stay with the Cubs.
- Matthew Boyd did the same. So the Cubs need to go back to work on their rotation.
For you paid readers, here's a little tool I put together with Chat GPT. It scans MLB news every day and compiles it together in this app. Decent place to see what stories are going down.
I think we're in for a good amount of news over the next 30 days before the lockout officially kicks off. So we'll try to keep the daily content going here at MLB DW!
