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Brewers Announce Three Option Decisions

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The Brewers announced decisions on three options decisions today. First baseman Rhys Hoskins and left-hander Jose Quintana both had mutual options declined and are now free agents. The club also turned down a club option on catcher William Contreras, who remains under club control via arbitration.

Contreras, 28 in December, qualified for arbitration for the first time a year ago. He and the Brewers couldn’t agree on his salary for 2025, his first of three arb years, prior to the January 15th filing deadline. Late in January, they avoided a hearing by agreeing to a one-year deal with a club option. It was a $6.1MM guarantee in the form of a $6MM salary for 2025 and a $100K buyout on a $12MM club option for 2026.

In the season which just ended, Contreras still put up decent numbers but he played through a finger fracture and wasn’t quite at his previous level. His .260/.355/.399 line translated to a 113 wRC+, indicating he was 13% above league average, but he was 26-39% better than par in the three previous seasons.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Contreras for $11.1MM in his second arbitration season, a bit below the value of the club option. Presumably, Milwaukee’s internal projections are somewhat similar. They will give Contreras the $100K buyout for now. Later, they will try to get him signed for his second arbitration season with a salary below $12MM, therefore saving a few bucks.

The other two decisions were more straightforward. Mutual options are mostly an accounting measure designed to move part of the guarantee to the end of the deal. It’s been more than a decade since a mutual option was exercised by both parties.

Hoskins, 33 in March, signed with the Brewers going into the 2024 season. He had missed the entire 2023 campaign due to a torn ACL. It was a two-year deal with an opt-out halfway through. He would make $12MM in 2024 with a $4MM buyout on an $18MM player option, followed by an $18MM mutual option for 2026 with a $4MM buyout.

Ideally, Hoskins would have returned to form before heading back to free agency, but it didn’t play out that way. He hit .214/.303/.419 in 2024. That translated to a 101 wRC+, indicating he was barely above average. That wasn’t awful but also wasn’t good enough for a guy who isn’t an especially strong defender or baserunner. He triggered his player option and returned to Milwaukee for 2025.

His bat ticked up slightly this year, as he hit .237/.332/.416 for a 109 wRC+, but he missed about two months with a sprained left thumb. He got Wally Pipped by Andrew Vaughn while he was out and was left off the club’s playoff roster.

The Brewers will move on while Hoskins will look for a new opportunity elsewhere. His reputation should be enough for a major league deal but his age and recent performance will likely limit him to one-year deals.

Quintana, 37 in January, lingered in free agency last offseason. The Brewers grabbed him in March, signing him to a one-year deal with a $4MM guarantee. That broke down as a $2MM salary and a $2MM buyout on a $15MM mutual option.

The lefty had a decent year, making 24 starts with a 3.96 earned run average, though he worked around a subpar 16% strikeout rate. His .259 batting average on balls in play was on the low side, which is why measures like his 4.81 FIP and 5.04 SIERA feel his ERA should have been about a full run higher. He’ll take his buyout and look for his next opportunity. Despite the low strikeouts, a solid veteran innings eater like Quintana will still be in line for a major league deal.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Imagn Images

Trevor Story To Decline Opt-Out Clause, Will Remain With Red Sox

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Trevor Story will not be exercising the opt-out clause in his contract with the Red Sox, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports.  Story had the ability to leave after the fourth year of his six-year, $120MM deal, but he’ll remain with the Sox and collect the remaining $55MM owed to him rather than test free agency this winter.

The remaining salary breaks down as a $25MM salary in each of the 2026 and 2027 seasons, plus there is a $5MM buyout of a $25MM club option on Story’s services for 2028.  Story turns 33 in a couple of weeks and is coming off an okay but unspectacular 2025 campaign, so he has chosen to stick with the comfort and financial security of his current deal in Boston.

The fact that this decision was even somewhat debatable for Story is a testament to his bounce-back year.  The first three seasons of Story’s contract were essentially a disaster, as injuries limited the shortstop to 163 games and he hit only .232/.296/.397 over 670 plate appearances.  In 2025, however, Story was healthy and played in 157 games, batting .263/.308/.433 over 654 PA.  Story launched 25 home runs and also set a new career high with 31 stolen bases (against just one caught-stealing).

It was something of a comeback year within a comeback year, as Story had to overcome an ice-cold start before heating up considerably after the first two months of play.  The result was an almost exactly average 101 wRC+, and Story also had the lowest walk rate (five percent) of his career.  Story’s glovework had remained a constant even throughout his injury-plagued days in Boston, yet this season his public defensive metrics plummeted to a -7 Defensive Runs Saved and -9 Outs Above Average.

These less-favorable numbers were surely on the mind of Story and his representatives at Wasserman as they considered the opt-out decision.  Even with a lack of premium shortstop talent available in free agency, Story ultimately decided that testing the market wasn’t worth the risk.  Story also might have flashed back to his last time on the open market, when the lockout interrupted the 2021-22 offseason and kept Story from landing his Red Sox contract until more than halfway through March.

With Story now officially back in the fold, the Sox have one big piece of their infield set for 2026.  Alex Bregman did exercise his opt-out clause, so the third base position is a question mark for now unless Bregman re-signs or if the Red Sox install Marcelo Mayer at the hot corner.  The second base starter is also unclear and there have been rumors that Boston wants a first base upgrade over Triston Casas (who is returning from a 2025 season almost entirely lost to injury).

Royals Place Kyle Wright On Outright Waivers

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The Royals have placed right-hander Kyle Wright on outright waivers, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’s missed each of the past two seasons following shoulder surgery performed in October 2023. Assuming he clears, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment and become a free agent based on his service time (4.151 years).

Wright, 30, came over from the Braves two years ago in exchange for a fellow change-of-scenery first-rounder, Jackson Kowar. He was just a month removed from surgery to repair the anterior capsule in his right shoulder at the time. Kansas City knew he wouldn’t pitch in 2024 but hoped that he could bounce back for the 2025 season. That didn’t happen. Wright’s recovery lingered into 2025, and he was pulled off a minor league rehab stint in May due to fatigue in his surgically repaired shoulder. He also eventually sustained an oblique injury, which further set him back.

Though he spent two years as a member of the Royals organization, Wright never pitched in the majors with Kansas City. He was projected for the same $1.8MM salary he earned in 2025, but the Royals weren’t comfortable making any form of commitment after two lost seasons. Perhaps another club will roll the dice — Atlanta has brought back several old friends as depth options over the past year — but if not he’ll become a free agent and sign a minor league deal somewhere.

Prior to his injury, Wright looked to have broken out. The former No. 5 overall draft pick took a good while to do so, but in 2022 he tossed 180 1/3 innings with a 3.19 ERA, a 23.6% strikeout rate and a 7.2% walk rate for Atlanta. Whether he can ever get back to that form is an open question. Wright hasn’t pitched in the majors in more than two years, and his once-95.1 mph average fastball was sitting at a flat 92.0 mph during his limited Triple-A work in 2025. There’s little harm in a team taking a flier on a minor league deal if and when he clears waivers, but he’s a pure depth option right now.

Tigers Decline Club Option On Randy Dobnak

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The Tigers declined their $6MM club option on right-hander Randy Dobnak, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. He’ll receive a $1MM buyout and become a free agent.

It was the expected outcome for Dobnak, who came to the Tigers alongside fellow righty Chris Paddack in the trade sending catching prospect Enrique Jimenez to the Twins this past July. Dobnak, who was earning $3MM this year and had a $1MM buyout on that option (plus now-moot club options for 2027 and 2028), was included in the trade simply as a means of clearing salary for Minnesota. He wasn’t on the 40-man roster, having already been outrighted multiple times in the past, and never pitched in the majors with the Tigers.

The now-30-year-old Dobnak was a remarkable story back in 2017-19, going from an undrafted free agent playing in a tiny independent league (and driving Uber on the side to make ends meet) to pitching for the Twins in the postseason in less than two years’ time. After pitching for Division-II Alderson Broaddus University in his college days, Dobnak signed with the Utica Unicorns of the United Shore League. He started only six games before the Twins caught a look at him and signed him.

Dobnak was the Twins’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2019 after working to a combined 2.07 ERA across 135 innings. He logged a 1.59 ERA in his first nine MLB appearances that season, made the playoff roster, and gave the Twins 10 serviceable starts during the shortened 2020 season. Minnesota signed Dobnak to a five-year, $9.25MM contract in spring 2021. It hasn’t panned out, though obviously the financial risk was minimal, particularly given that the contract’s three option years bought out three free-agent seasons.

Unfortunately for both Dobnak and the Twins, his results tanked shortly after signing the extension. He was shelled for a 7.64 ERA in 50 2/3 innings in 2021 and has pitched only 15 big league innings since. Dobnak has now posted ERA marks north of 5.00 in three of the past four Triple-A seasons. He’s never missed many bats or thrown particularly hard, but his once-sterling walk rate has ballooned to around 12% over the past four seasons.

The Tigers were never going to pick up Dobnak’s option. They’ll pay him a $1MM buyout, and he’ll become a free agent who’ll look to latch on as a depth piece on a minor league deal — or perhaps garner some interest from a team overseas.

Yu Darvish Undergoes UCL Surgery, Will Miss Entire 2026 Season

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The Padres announced that right-hander Yu Darvish underwent surgery last Wednesday to fix a damaged right UCL and flexor tendon.  The procedure was an internal brace surgery instead of a full Tommy John surgery, yet the outcome is still the same — Darvish will miss the entire 2026 season while recovering.

This will be the second entirely lost year of Darvish’s career, as he missed all of 2015 due to a Tommy John procedure.  He has had some bouts of elbow soreness in the decade since that surgery, most prominently a stint on the 60-day injured list this season stemming from a bout of elbow inflammation that arose during Spring Training.

It wasn’t until July 7 that Darvish finally made his season debut for the Padres, and he clearly didn’t look 100 percent while posting a 5.38 ERA over 15 starts and 72 innings.  Small sample size notwithstanding, Darvish’s 23% strikeout rate was the lowest of his 13 MLB seasons, and his chase and whiff rates were far below average.  His 6.4% walk rate was still quite strong and Darvish did a very good job of limiting hard contact overall, but batters tended to thrive when actually squaring up on the veteran, as Darvish allowed 14 homers over his 72 frames.

Beyond these statistics, perhaps the most prominent numbers are 39 (Darvish’s age) and 3119.  The latter figure is the total number of innings Darvish has amassed over 20 total seasons pitching in the Major League regular season and postseason, as well as seven seasons in Japan with the Nippon-Ham Fighters.  Darvish will be 40 years old on Opening Day 2027 and it is anyone’s guess how he could perform after such a long layoff.

Last month, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune addressed the possibility of Darvish’s retirement, writing that “there has been talk for more than a year about the possibility he could retire at any time,” and that “Darvish has not made any assurances about completing his contract.”  The fact that Darvish has undergone this surgery would surely indicate that he wants to keep pitching, though any setbacks in rehab could perhaps create fresh doubt in the right-hander’s mind.

Darvish signed a contract extension with the Padres in April 2023, and he is still owed $43MM over the course of the 2026-28 seasons.  The $15MM owed to him in 2026 is now a wash, and retiring outright would mean that Darvish is voluntarily walking away from his remaining two years of salary.  The likelier outcome in the event that Darvish is unable to keep playing is that some kind of deferred buyout agreement is made with the Padres so that Darvish will still get his money over a longer period of time.

Given Darvish’s injury history, he was already viewed as a question mark for San Diego’s rotation heading into 2026.  Now that the question has been answered in the most unfortunate way possible, the Padres will go into next season with just two (Nick Pivetta and Randy Vasquez) of the seven pitchers who made the most starts for the team in 2025.  Dylan Cease and Michael King are free agents, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert were traded to the Royals at the deadline. and now Darvish has been sidelined by his UCL repair.

Next year’s rotation projects as Pivetta, Vasquez, deadline pickup JP Sears, Joe Musgrove in his return from Tommy John surgery, and a fifth starter role that could be contested between Matt Waldron, Kyle Hart, or (more intriguingly) star relievers Mason Miller or Adrian Morejon.  San Diego was already expected to add at least one starter to this mix even before Darvish’s injury news surfaced, so the team’s search for rotation help will now be even more pronounced.

Inset image courtesy of Denis Poroy — Imagn Images

Rockies Decline Mutual Option On Kyle Farmer

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The Rockies have declined their end of a $4MM mutual option on infielder Kyle Farmer for the 2026 season, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports.  Farmer will instead get a $750K buyout and head into free agency.

The decision is not a surprise. Farmer, 35, has long been a glove-first utility guy in the majors. The Rockies signed him just under a year ago to provide a veteran boost to their young infield. The deal guaranteed him $3.25MM in the form of a $2.5MM salary plus the aforementioned $750K option buyout.

Farmer got into 97 games for Colorado this year, stepping to the plate 300 times. He slashed .227/.280/.365 for a wRC+ of 65. Even though he’s never been a huge threat at the plate, that was a drop from the .250/.310/.391 line and 89 wRC+ he carried into the year.

The Rockies, with no current front office leader, have made the easy decision to move on. They could perhaps bring Farmer back to serve as a multi-positional bench piece again, but they will have a few months to consider other available options as well. Farmer will look for his next opportunity, which could be a minor league deal or a major league pact at a lower price point.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

Braves Release Nathan Wiles

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The Braves have released right-hander Nathan Wiles, according to Lindsay Crosby of the Braves Today podcast. The righty will become a free agent once he clears release waivers, if he hasn’t already.

Wiles, 27, came to Atlanta’s organization in a trade from the Rays back in March. He was added to Atlanta’s 40-man roster on April 22nd and tossed one inning that day, allowing three earned runs in his major league debut. He was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett the next day. He was recalled a few times over the remainder of the season but was always optioned back down without making an appearance, so he still has just the one big league game on his track record.

Throughout his time in the minors, he has generally produced cromulent results without a ton of strikeouts but also without many free passes. Over 438 minor league innings in his career, he has allowed 4.48 earned runs per nine with a 21% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate. That includes 112 2/3 innings in 2025 over 19 starts and six relief appearances with a 3.04 ERA, 22.2% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate.

This release frees up a roster spot for Atlanta. RosterResource pegs the club for a 40-man count of 37, once all free agents officially hit the open market and guys are reinstated from the injured list. They have club options on Chris Sale, Tyler Kinley, Ozzie Albies and Pierce Johnson, so they’ll need to open one more spot if they plan to pick up all those options. They will presumably want to add some players before the Rule 5 protection deadline, in addition to signing free agents or making trade acquisitions, so more moves may be over the horizon. Wiles, meanwhile, will look for his next opportunity.

Photo courtesy of Jordan Godfree, Imagn Images

Orioles Acquire Andrew Kittredge From Cubs

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The Orioles have reunited with Andrew Kittredge, as the team announced that the right-hander has been acquired from the Cubs in exchange for cash considerations.  While not mentioned in the Orioles’ press release, it can be assumed that the O’s will be exercising Kittredge’s $9MM club option for the 2026 season rather than swinging a trade for the reliever just to buy him out for $1MM.

Last January, Kittredge came to Baltimore for the first time when he signed a one-year deal worth $10MM in guaranteed money — a $9MM salary for 2025, and the $1MM in buyout money.  A debridement procedure in his left knee delayed Kittredge’s 2025 debut until late May, but he was in fine form afterwards, and he became an obvious trade candidate when the O’s fell out of contention.  The result was a deal to the Cubs at the trade deadline, with Baltimore netting infield prospect Wilfri De La Cruz in return.

Kittredge’s overall numbers were even better in Chicago after the trade, and he made five appearances for the Cubs in the postseason.  For 2025 as a whole, Kittredge posted a 3.40 ERA and a superb set of advanced metrics.  His 30.8% strikeout rate and 5.3% walk rate each sat in the 92nd percentile of all pitchers, his 49.2% grounder rate was far above average, and his 41.6% chase rate was the best of any pitcher in baseball.

Today’s trade means that the Orioles have now gotten Kittredge and De La Cruz in their organization, plus they saved roughly $2.8MM in salary when the Cubs took on the remainder of Kittredge’s 2025 salary.  Had everything gone to plan for Baltimore this season, the team surely had an eye towards exercising Kittredge’s club option anyway, so they’ll now get to make that decision after all and address a bullpen need.

Felix Bautista will miss most or all of the 2026 season recovering from shoulder surgery, plus Kittredge was one of several relievers dealt away by the Orioles at the deadline.  Even with Kittredge’s contributions, Baltimore’s bullpen was one of the weakest in the league in 2025, and rebuilding the relief core seems to be one of the club’s top priorities this offseason.

From the Cubs’ perspective, passing the buck (literally and figuratively) on Kittredge’s club option seems like an unusual move.  While Kittredge is entering his age-36 season and Chicago has traditionally been wary about overspending on relief pitching, $9MM seems like a fairly safe investment given how well Kittredge performed in 2025.  The Wrigleyville bullpen was quite solid this year, yet since many names from that group are free agents, exercising Kittredge’s club option would’ve been a way for the Cubs to partially solidify things early in the winter.

Since Shota Imanaga’s three-year club option was also declined by the Cubs earlier today, quite a bit of projected money has now been cleared off the team’s books between Imanaga and Kittredge.  As per RosterResource, Chicago has an estimated 2026 payroll of roughly $148.3MM and a luxury tax number of $164MM — well below their $206.4MM payroll and $227.3MM tax figure from 2025.  While Wrigleyville fans have a right to be concerned over how much ownership is willing to spend, this situation could mean that the Cubs are making room for a bigger-ticket acquisition or two this offseason.

Red Sox Avoid Arbitration With Jarren Duran

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The Red Sox announced that they have agreed to a one-year deal with outfielder Jarren Duran for the 2026 season.  MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith reports that Duran will earn $7.7MM in 2026, with another $75K available in bonus money.

The move technically counts as an arbitration-avoiding signing since Duran is under arb control through 2028, though the Red Sox signed him to a one-year deal last winter that contained an $8MM club option for 2026.  Boston has now declined that option, paid Duran a $100K buyout, and then inked this new deal that will ultimately save the club a bit of money.  The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey reports that Duran will earn a $25K bonus if he reaches 450 plate appearances, and then another $25K for each of the 500-PA and 550-PA thresholds.

MLB Trade Rumors’ Matt Swartz projected Duran for an $8.4MM salary in his second winter of arb-eligibility, but going to a hearing never seemed likely due to the existence of Boston’s club option.  Duran is a Super Two player and thus has four arb years instead of the usual three, so he should continue to earn significant raises in his arbitration years if he keeps producing consistent results.

Duran hit .256/.332/.442 with 16 homers and 24 steals over 696 PA this season, and led the American League with 13 triples.  While a 111 wRC+ and 3.9 fWAR are more than respectable, it did represent a notable step back from the 131 wRC+ and 6.8 fWAR that Duran posted in 2024.

Beyond his on-field results, the most notable aspect of Duran’s 2025 campaign have been the persistent trade rumors that have followed the outfielder for a few years now.  With Roman Anthony emerging as a force in his rookie year, there has been even more speculation that the Sox might trade from their outfield surplus (i.e. Duran, Wilyer Abreu, or perhaps Ceddanne Rafaela) to address other roster needs, likely starting pitching.  The existence of the club option means that the Red Sox probably had to get some kind of resolution on Duran’s 2026 salary done relatively quickly, yet this early settlement might also hint that the Sox wanted to remove one wrinkle in advance of any upcoming trade talks.

Orioles Sign Josh Walker To Major League Contract

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The Orioles announced that left-hander Josh Walker has been signed to a one-year Major League contract.  Salary terms weren’t announced, but Walker (who was already in Baltimore’s organization) was slated to earn a minimum MLB salary as a pre-arbitration player.

Like recent deals with Rico Garcia and Luis Vazquez, Walker’s new contract is likely meant to give Baltimore a little extra control over their services, and give other teams a little more reason to pause should the O’s designate Walker or the other for assignment over the course of the winter.  A slightly larger salary beyond the big league minimum might deter some clubs, and since Walker is out of minor league options, the Orioles will have to DFA him whenever (or if ever) they want to try and get Walker off the 40-man roster.

Walker has appeared in each of the last three Major League seasons, amassing a 6.59 ERA over 27 1/3 innings with the Mets and Blue Jays.  All three of his 2025 appearances in the Show came with Toronto, and the Jays traded Walker to the Phillies in late May.  The southpaw spent the rest of the year with the Triple-A affiliates of the Phillies and Orioles, as Baltimore claimed Walker off waivers in August.

Walker’s MLB numbers and his 4.39 career ERA over 174 1/3 Triple-A innings are nothing to write home about, but he does have a 25.67% strikeout rate at the Triple-A level.  The Orioles seem to have liked what they saw from Walker during his brief time in the organization, and this new contract gives him a bit of a better chance of winning a bullpen job in Spring Training.

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