The offseason is officially upon us, and the first order of business for most teams will be to address the various contract options that apply to the 2014 season. As MLBTR's Tim Dierkes noted earlier, most (and possibly all) of these decisions will be wrapped up by 11:59pm ET on Saturday.
Many of the options are no-brainers (e.g. James Shields), but others aren't quite as clear (e.g. David DeJesus). It's also important to remember that players with options can be traded in the coming days. For example, with the signing of Alexander Guerrero, Mark Ellis appears to have been displaced in Los Angeles. However, other teams may find his $5.75MM club option appealing and be willing to work out a trade with the Dodgers to acquire him at that price rather than take their chances on the open market. Most famously, we saw this one year ago today with the Royals' acquisition of Ervin Santana.
We've also already seen a few options exercised and declined. The Rockies picked up their $11MM option on Jorge De La Rosa and declined their $4.25MM option on Rafael Betancourt, who went down with Tommy John surgery. The Brewers exercised a cheap $1.9MM option on Norichika Aoki, and reports have indicated that, not surprisingly, Jon Lester's option will be picked up by the Red Sox as well.
With all that said, here's a team-by-team look at the various contract options — club, player and mutual — that each team will be resolving in the next few days.
AL WEST
Angels
- None
Astros
- None
Athletics
- Brett Anderson: $8MM club option ($1.5MM buyout; will be arbitration eligible if option is declined)
- Coco Crisp, OF: $7.5MM club option ($1MM buyout)
- Kurt Suzuki, C: $8.5MM club option ($650K buyout)
- Chris Young, OF: $11MM club option ($1.5MM buyout)
Mariners
- Franklin Gutierrez, OF: $7.5MM club option ($500K buyout)
- Joe Saunders, SP: $8.3MM mutual option ($900K buyout)
Rangers
- Lance Berkman, DH: $12MM club option ($1MM buyout)
- Joe Nathan, RP: $9MM club option ($750K buyout; Nathan can void and elect free agency)
AL CENTRAL
Indians
- Jason Kubel, OF/DH: $7.5MM club option ($1MM buyout)
- Ubaldo Jimenez, SP: $8MM club option (Jimenez earned the right to void this option when he was traded from the Rockies to the Indians)
Royals
- James Shields, SP: $13.5MM club option ($1MM buyout)
Tigers
- Jose Veras, RP: $3.25MM club option ($150K buyout)
Twins
- None
White Sox
- Matt Lindstrom, RP: $4MM club option ($500K buyout)
AL EAST
Blue Jays
- Mark DeRosa, 1B/3B/LF/RF: $750K club option ($25K buyout)
- Casey Janssen, RP: $4MM club option
- Munenori Kawasaki, 2B/SS: $1MM club option
- Adam Lind, DH/1B: $7MM club option ($2MM buyout)
Orioles
- Alexi Casilla, 2B/SS: $3MM club option ($200K buyout)
- Dan Johnson, 1B/DH: $800K club option
- Tsuyoshi Wada, SP/RP: $5MM club option
Rays
- David DeJesus, OF: $6.5MM club option ($1.5MM buyout)
- Yunel Escobar, SS: $5MM club option
- Juan Carlos Oviedo, RP: $2MM club option ($30K buyout)
- Ben Zobrist 2B/RF/SS: $7MM club option ($2.5MM buyout)
Red Sox
- Jon Lester, SP: $13MM club option ($250K buyout)
- Matt Thornton, RP: $6MM club option ($1MM buyout)
Yankees
- Derek Jeter, SS: $9.5MM player option ($3MM buyout)
NL WEST
Diamondbacks
- None
Dodgers
- Chris Capuano, SP: $8MM mutual option ($1MM buyout)
- Mark Ellis, 2B: $5.75MM club option ($1MM buyout)
Giants
- Ryan Vogelsong, SP: $6.5MM club option ($300K buyout)
- Barry Zito, SP: $18MM club option ($7MM buyout)
Padres
- None
Rockies
- Matt Belisle, RP: $4.25MM mutual option ($250K buyout)
NL CENTRAL
Brewers
- None (Aoki's already exercised)
Cardinals
- Jake Westbrook, SP: $9.5MM mutual option ($1MM buyout)
Cubs
- None
Pirates
- Wandy Rodriguez, SP: $13MM player option ($2.5MM buyout)
Reds
- None
NL EAST
Braves
- Reed Johnson, OF: $1.6MM club option ($150K buyout)
Nationals
- None
Marlins
- Jacob Turner, SP: $1MM club option (part of a Major League deal signed out of the draft)
Mets
- Johan Santana, SP: $25MM club option ($5.5MM buyout)
Phillies
- None
