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As free agency gets going, players will be added to the pool of available free agents depending on whether their options are picked up or declined. While there are lots of team or player options out there to be decided on, most of them are probably going to be declined.
This is a list of all the options (whether player, team, or mutual) that have been decided on thus far, and what their salary for next season is or would have been depending on the outcome. This includes buyout amounts as well, if applicable.
Some of these we knew were coming, some decisions were balancing on a fencepost, and some people probably weren’t thinking about at all, with the exception of fans for those teams.
Jed Lowrie - A’s: Picked Up
Lowrie’s $6M option was picked up by Oakland over the weekend, guaranteeing the versatile infielder will be with the team for at least another season.
Huston Street - Angels: Declined
Ricky Nolasco - Angels: Declined
The Angels declined both Street and Nolasco’s options for 2018, and neither came as a particular surprise. Street would have made $10M next season and Nolasco would have made $13M. They both will get a $1M buyout as they enter the free agent market.
Jose Altuve - Astros: Picked Up
Jose Altuve will make $6M on the Astros in 2018, and this might be the least-surprising pick-up of the offseason so far. There is no way Houston was declining this option after Altuve’s performance this season and postseason, and how important he is to the team’s makeup.
Marwin Gonzalez - Astros: Picked Up
Gonzalez’s option is worth slightly less than Altuve’s at $5.125M, but again, there’s no shock here.
Jose Bautista - Blue Jays: Declined
The Blue Jays made it clear that Bautista’s option wouldn’t be picked up. They would have been on the hook for $17.5M, and the team made the announcement that they’d be going in a different direction shortly after the season ended. Bautista will get a $500k buyout instead.
Tyler Flowers - Braves: Picked up
RA Dickey - Braves: Declined
Flowers was an easy call for the Braves, based on his offensive numbers this year as well as his abilities behind the plate. He’s a reliable catcher for them, and at only $4M the price is right. Dickey, meanwhile, would have earned $8M but has a $500k buyout that he’ll receive regardless of whether he retires or winds up with another team. At 43, the former option is probably the more likely end result.
Ian Kinsler - Detroit: Vested
Kinsler had to reach 600 plate appearances to trigger a vesting clause that would guarantee him $11M. They probably would have exercised his option anyway, but he’s all set regardless.
Daniel Descalso - Diamondbacks: Picked Up
Descalso hit .233/.332/.395 in 2017, and set career highs in both RBI and home runs. At only $2M, the Diamondbacks keeping a versatile player like this makes more than enough sense.
Andre Ethier - Dodgers: Declined
Ethier was the longest-tenured player on the Dodgers, and would have been in line for a $17.5M payday next season if LA didn’t decline his option. But he’s 35, and the Dodgers have a few young lefties on the roster to take his place for less.
Logan Forsythe - Dodgers: Picked up
The Dodgers exercised Forsythe’s $8.5M contract.
Madison Bumgarner - Giants: Picked up
Matt Moore - Giants: Picked up
Pablo Sandoval - Giants: Picked up
Bumgarner and Moore’s options are worth $12M and $9M, respectively, and Bumgarner has another $12M option for 2019. Sandoval’s, on the other hand, will be for the league minimum. Panda is still getting paid by Boston no matter who he plays for, or if he plays at all.
Michael Brantley - Indians: Picked up
Josh Tomlin - Indians: Picked up
Brantley’s option is worth $11.5M, with Tomlin’s set for $3M. The former had injury issues this year with his shoulder and ankle but Cleveland expects him to be productive again next year and return to his All-Star form. He would have been in line for a $1M buyout otherwise. Tomlin is getting up there at age 33, but could also make a shift from a starting role to the bullpen to make keeping him worth it for Cleveland.
Boone Logan - Indians: Declined
Meanwhile, Cleveland declined Logan’s $7M option but will pay him a $1M buyout. He was out for most of the season with a shoulder injury, and the future of his career is unsure.
Ichiro Suzuki - Marlins: Declined
A victim of the Jeter ownership era’s salary cutbacks, this wasn’t a shock. Ichiro’s option was $2M, and at his age it could be the end of his MLB career but he’ll probably stick around. Thankfully.
Yovani Gallardo - Mariners: Declined
Hisashi Iwakuma - Mariners: Declined
Gallardo’s $13M option and Iwakuma’s $10M option were both declined to be picked up by Seattle. Both right-handed pitchers, they’ll be let loose into a robust free agent market for pitchers. Iwakuma has been with the Mariners for six seasons, while 2017 was Gallardo’s first season with the club. The former had shoulder issues for most of the season, while the latter had a 5.72 ERA this year.
Asdrubal Cabrera - Mets: Picked Up
Jerry Blevins - Mets: Picked Up
Cabrera’s option is worth $8.5M and Blevins is worth $7M. Cabrera has apparently gotten over his annoyance at being moved from shortstop in favor of Amed Rosario, and will serve time at both second and third for the Mets. Blevins, meanwhile, shores up the Mets’ bullpen going into next season, after a year when they couldn’t seem to have any sort of nice things when it came to the pitching staff.
Adam Lind - Nationals: Declined
Gio Gonzalez - Nationals: Vested
Matt Wieters - Nationals: Picked Up
Lind had a mutual option with the Nationals worth $5M after the first year of a contract he signed last offseason, which the team declined and will net him a $500k buyout. He’s 34, and might have a tough time finding near the same money from another team on the market.
Gonzalez’s option vested at $12M after he threw more than 180 innings in 2017, and the Nationals also picked up catcher Matt Wieters’ $10.5M option.
J.J. Hardy - Orioles: Declined
Wade Miley - Orioles: Declined
Wellington Castillo - Orioles: Declined
Hardy had his starting role at shortstop taken by Tim Beckham this year, and so will receive a $2M buyout instead of the $14M he would have received if his option was picked up. Miley gets a $500k buyout rather than the $12M he would have gotten if he stayed with the Orioles. He’s been only okay in Baltimore since he was sent there in 2016, and at that high a price tag it’s not surprising he won’t be sticking around.
Castillo declined his own option and will test free agency.
Andrew McCutchen: Picked up $14.75M
After much back and forth last offseason and the beginning of this season about whether McCutchen would be traded,
Wade LeBlanc - Pirates: Declined
Chris Stewart - Pirates: Declined
Neither LeBlanc nor Stewart were set to make much money, at $1.25M for the former and $1.5M for the latter. Instead, they’ll walk away with a $50k and a $250k buyout, respectively.
Nathan Eovaldi - Rays: Picked up
Tampa Bay picked up Eovaldi’s $2M option after he missed all of 2017 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He is eligible to earn $3.5M in performance bonuses as a starter or $3M if he serves as a reliever instead. He hasn’t played since he was in pinstripes last August.
Mike Napoli - Rangers: Declined
Martin Perez - Rangers: Picked up
Tony Barnette - Rangers: Declined
Napoli’s $11M option was declined, and he’ll receive a $2.5M buyout. Left-handed pitcher Perez had his $6M option picked up, while Barnette’s $4M option was declined but he’ll get a $250k buyout as well.
Chris Sale - Red Sox: Picked up
Craig Kimbrel - Red Sox: Picked up
At $12.5M, and with what Sale did for Boston this season, this decision is the biggest no-brainer on this entire list. They were never not picking up his option. Similarly, Boston wasn’t about to part with Dirty Craig. His option is set at $13M.
Alexi Amarista - Rockies: Declined
Greg Holland - Rockies: Declined
Amarista made an appearance in only 96 games this season, and was weak at the plate. The Rockies declined his $2.5M option and he’ll receive a $150k buyout. Holland, meanwhile, declined his $15M option in the hunt for a better deal. He’s almost certain to receive a qualifying offer from the team.
Mike Minor - Royals: Declined
This was a mutual option declined by Minor, he’ll get a $1.25M buyout rather than a $10M salary for next year. The Royals reportedly have interest in resigning him but he’ll get to test out free agency first.
Anibal Sanchez - Tigers: Declined
Sanchez gets to walk away from Detroit $5M richer thanks to his buyout, and the Tigers would have been on the hook for $16M otherwise. While the beginning of his five-year, $80M contract was strong he didn’t add much value to Detroit in the back few years of that deal. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, especially considering the price tag on his option.
Glen Perkins - Twins: Declined
Perkins will receive a $700k buyout after Minnesota declined to pick up his $6.5M club option. The closer is now a free agent.
Geovany Soto - White Sox: Declined
Soto missed most of this season with an elbow injury and as such the White Sox declined his $3M option.