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9 Contract Options To Keep An Eye On In September

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The final push of the 2025 season is upon is, which means postseason chases for fans lucky enough to root for contending clubs and offseason dreams for those whose clubs are already out of the running. It also means that players with vesting clauses in their contract and/or performance incentives are beginning to unlock bonuses related to plate appearances, innings pitched, games finished, etc.

In particular, there are a handful of club options that are worth keeping an eye on either for incentive purposes or for season-long rehabbers who’ll have a limited September window to audition for next year’s club. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco already highlighted the three vesting options of note last month, but we’ll still take a look at how those players are tracking and also shine a light on six more club/mutual options that’ll have some present financial ramifications as well as potential 2026 roster implications.

Here are nine options to keep in the back of your mind as the season’s final weeks play out…

Pete Fairbanks, RHP, Rays

Fairbanks’ three-year, $12MM extension with Tampa Bay contained a $7MM club option for the 2026 season, but he’s boosted that option’s value considerably. Fairbanks already triggered $1.5MM in escalators based on his total appearances in the first three seasons of the deal, and he’s maxed out a set of escalators based on his number of games finished in 2025, tacking another $2MM onto the option price. His option at this moment is valued at $10.5MM, but if he appears in even two more games this year, he’ll boost his 2023-25 appearance count to 150, adding another $1MM to its value. If he appears in seven of Tampa Bay’s final 22 games, he’ll bump his 2025 appearance total to 60 and add yet another $1MM escalator onto the deal.

A $12.5MM salary for a reliever is steep for the Rays, but Fairbanks has pitched a career-high 52 1/3 innings and logged a 3.10 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate en route to 24 saves. Even if the Rays were hesitant to commit $11.5MM or $12.5MM to a frequently injured reliever who’ll turn 32 in December, a team with lesser budgetary concerns would be willing to do. The option will very likely be picked up either way, but the steeper the cost, the likelier an offseason trade becomes.

Andrés Muñoz, RHP, Mariners

Muñoz’s four-year, $7.5MM contract has become one of the game’s great bargains. At the time of the agreement, he’d made just one appearance for the M’s and had only 23 2/3 major league innings under his belt due to Tommy John surgery. The four-year term bought out his final pre-arbitration year and all three arbitration seasons, while also giving Seattle options on his first three free agent years. It’s easy to say now that Muñoz would’ve earned more through arbitration, but it’s hard to blame a 22-year-old who’d scarcely pitched in the majors for locking in that life-changing payday, and there was some modest risk for the Mariners in the deal as well.

The first of those three option years has a $6MM base value, but Muñoz has already boosted that by $500K. He unlocked $250K option escalators when he reached 20 and 30 games finished on the season. He’s finished 39 games now, and he’ll hit additional $250K escalators when he finishes his 40th and 45th games of the season. The first of those is a lock, and the second is certainly within reach.

Muñoz’s contract also has an $8MM club option for 2027 and a $10MM club option for 2028. He can boost both those figures by $1MM with the same set of escalators based on his games finished in the next two seasons, and beginning next year, he can also earn an additional $2MM per season based on games finished.

John Means, LHP, Guardians

Coming off his second career Tommy John surgery, Means signed a one-year, $1MM deal with the Guardians. Cleveland knew full well he’d miss most of the season recovering from last summer’s UCL operation. Means has a $6MM club option, with no buyout. He can’t boost that sum any further, but he’s on the cusp of returning to the majors and making what’ll amount to a two- or three-start audition.

Means, 32, has made four minor league rehab starts and has pitched well. He’s tossed 13 1/3 innings and yielded four earned runs (2.70 ERA) on eight hits and five walks with 13 punchouts. He’d been slated to make his final rehab start today before being scratched with an illness, but a return to the majors could happen as soon as next weekend.

When healthy, Means has been a high-quality starter. He’s posted a 3.68 ERA in 401 big league innings, all coming with the Orioles. He’s a former Opening Day starter and All-Star for Baltimore who has twice topped 140 innings in a season. A pair of UCL surgeries has limited him to just 52 1/3 innings since Opening Day 2022, however.

The Athletic’s Zack Meisel suggests that as long as Means is healthy, the option will be picked up. The Guards have committed a full year to rehabilitating the talented lefty. And, as explored at MLBTR last night, Cleveland has an uncharacteristic need for some pitching upgrades. A $6MM gamble on Means isn’t exactly a pricey roll of the dice, but the Guardians are one of the sport’s lowest-payroll clubs. If Means returns next week and gets rocked in his only two or three big league starts this year, it doesn’t feel like a given that they’ll dedicate that $6MM sum to him. If he looks even close to his old form, it seems like a reasonable risk to take. His handful of starts will be worth watching with a careful eye for Cleveland fans.

Jose Urquidy, RHP, Tigers

Urquidy is in a very similar situation to that of Means. He’s rehabbing from a second career Tommy John surgery and signed a one-year, $1MM deal with a $4MM club option for the 2026 season. Like Means, he’s on a minor league rehab assignment right now and could be activated in the near future. The former Astros righty tossed three scoreless innings for Triple-A Toledo three days ago and has now pitched 14 2/3 minor league innings with a 4.30 ERA and a 12-to-3 K/BB ratio.

Urquidy and Means have nearly identical career innings totals, though Urquidy’s 405 frames have come in a more condensed five seasons. From 2019-22, the right-hander posted a 3.74 ERA with a 20.3% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate in 342 innings for Houston. He was hit hard in a 2023 season that was shortened by shoulder troubles (5.29 ERA in 63 frames) and didn’t pitch in 2024 due to the elbow/forearm discomfort that eventually prompted his Tommy John surgery in early June last year.

If Urquidy comes back anywhere close to that 2019-22 form, a $4MM option should be a no-brainer, but a rocky performance could give the Tigers reason to pause. Urquidy’s return will also be worth monitoring since he could pitch his way into postseason roster consideration for Detroit.

Tyler Kinley, RHP, Braves

Atlanta looked past Kinley’s dismal 5.66 ERA with the Rockies and acquired him in July, clearly believing that the hard-throwing righty was only a few tweaks away from success. It’s been a masterstroke. Kinley has pitched 13 2/3 innings and allowed just one run since being traded to Atlanta in exchange for 26-year-old Double-A righty Austin Smith. The Braves have Kinley throwing even more sliders and working with a slightly lower release point, and the results have been stellar — albeit in a small sample.

The Braves were out of the postseason chase by the time the deadline rolled around, so the mere fact that they traded for a potential free agent with a 2026 club option signaled that they were open to exercising that option in spite of his struggles. Kinley’s success in Atlanta makes it quite likely he’ll return, but there’s a good chance it won’t be at the $5MM base price of his value. His contract contains option escalators based on games finished, the first of which kicks in at 20. Kinley has currently finished 18 games this year, including three with Atlanta. If he finishes two more, he’ll boost next year’s option to $5.5MM — and he’ll also unlock a $500K bonus for the current season.

It’s not a major change, but those incentives would bump him from a $2.08MM luxury tax hit to $2.875MM. Assuming the options on Kinley, Pierce Johnson, Chris Sale, Ozzie Albies and Ha-Seong Kim are all exercised, Atlanta will have $207.5MM committed to next year’s books when the offseason begins (before accounting for arbitration raises).

Harrison Bader, OF, Phillies

Bader has proven to be a terrific pickup for the Phils, hitting .307/.374/.477 in his first 99 plate appearances since being traded over from Minnesota. He’s up to 406 plate appearances on the season, which is just enough for his incentive structure to kick in. The $1.5MM buyout on Bader’s $10MM mutual option jumped to $1.7MM when he reached 400 plate appearances, and it’ll climb to $1.9MM at 425 plate appearances and $2.1MM if he reaches 450. It’s a minor bump, but for a Phillies club that’s a third-time luxury payor in the top tier of penalization, they’ll pay a 110% tax on the prorated portion of that extra $600K.

Given the strength of Bader’s play, they’ll happily pay that, of course, and the increased buyout does nothing to change the fact that Bader will return to free agency this winter. It’s been over a decade since the last time both sides of a mutual option were exercised in MLB (Brewers, Aramis Ramirez in 2014). Bader’s plus defense and strong season at the plate should position him for a multi-year deal in the offseason.

Jorge Polanco, INF, Mariners

Polanco is nine plate appearances shy of converting his 2026 mutual option into a $6MM player option. He’s also already tacked $2MM onto his 2025 salary via plate appearance incentives, and when he hits the 450 mark needed to trigger that player option, he’ll unlock another $500K. That’ll bump the veteran switch-hitter up to a $9.5MM salary in 2025. He’d get another $500K if he can make it to 500 plate appearances, but it’s not a guarantee he’ll get 59 plate appearances in between now and season’s end.

Though he’s slumped considerably in the middle months of the season, Polanco has heated up again in the past three weeks. He’s slashing .254/.319/.471 with 23 homers and 17 doubles in only 441 plate appearances — miles better than the down year he had with the M’s in 2024 before undergoing offseason knee surgery. He’s played well enough that he’s probably going to decline a $6MM player option anyhow, but it’ll be a nice safety net in the event of an injury (so long as it’s not a lower-half injury, as his contract contains language that’d prevent the player option from kicking in if he’s dealing with an injury related to that offseason knee procedure).

Matt Strahm, LHP, Phillies

Strahm is on the cusp of having his contract’s 2026 option vest. While that originally came at a $4.5MM base value, he’s already boosted the option value to $6.5MM via $1MM escalators at 40 and 50 innings pitched. Once he reaches 60, the option value increases to its maximum $7.5MM. The contract also stipulates that if Strahm pitches 60 innings and passes a physical at the end of the season, it’ll automatically vest.

Strahm has been excellent in 2025, logging 56 1/3 frames of 2.88 ERA ball with a 27.9% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. He’s saved six games and tallied 17 holds. The Phillies would’ve picked up the option anyhow, but this removes any doubt.

Lucas Giolito, RHP, Red Sox

Giolito’s two-year, $38.5MM contract with Boston couldn’t have started much worse. The typically durable righty went down with a UCL injury in spring training last year, ultimately requiring surgery that wiped out his entire 2024 season. His 2025 return didn’t appear to be going well early on, either. Through his first seven starts, the 31-year-old was shelled for a 6.42 ERA in just 33 2/3 innings.

Since June 10, however, Giolito has returned to form. He’s started 15 games, totaled 91 2/3 innings and logged a pristine 2.26 earned run average. His 21.1% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate in that time are both about half a percentage point worse than league average among starting pitchers, but it’s been a strong run overall, pushing his season ERA down to a tidy 3.38.

That turnaround would make Giolito’s $14MM club option likely to be picked up — but it’s not likely to remain a club option. The right-hander’s contract stipulates that with 140 innings pitched this year, that option converts into a $19MM mutual option with a $1.5MM buyout. With 125 1/3 innings under his belt, Giolito only needs another 14 2/3 frames in the final three weeks to convert that option to mutual status. If and when he reaches that point, Giolito is a lock to decline his half of the mutual option, collect that buyout and return to free agency in search of a multi-year deal. The Sox could — and likely would — counter with a qualifying offer, but the hefty contracts for mid-rotation arms like Eduardo Rodriguez (four years, $80MM), Sean Manaea (three years, $75MM), Taijuan Walker (four years, $72MM), Jameson Taillon (four years, $68MM) and Luis Severino (three years, $67MM) in recent offseasons all suggest that Giolito can reasonably seek a pricey three- or four-year deal ahead of what’ll be his age-31 season.

Latest On Rays’ Deadline Possibilities

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The Rays remain one of the tougher teams to pin down around five hours until the trade deadline. Last night, they shipped out impending free agent starter Zack Littell to the Reds in a three-team trade that netted catcher Hunter Feduccia from the Dodgers. While that could be the beginning of a broader sell-off, it’s also possible they viewed Littell — their only pure rental — as a unique case.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported in the early-morning hours that the Rays, at least to that point, had put talks involving Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe on the back burner and were focused on other pursuits. While it’s possible things have changed in the roughly 12 hours since Rosenthal’s report, Franycs Romero describes the Rays’ talks on Díaz as “currently stalled.” He suggests the club is holding to a high asking price on the veteran first baseman/designated hitter.

The Red Sox have been mentioned most frequently as a potential Díaz suitor. Even if the Rays were willing to trade the 2023 AL batting champ, talk with Boston would be complicated by the divisional factor. The Red Sox currently occupy the second Wild Card position in the American League. The Rays have played terribly this month but remain within three games of a playoff spot. They’re hardly buried.

Díaz is signed for next season at a $12MM rate; his deal contains a $10MM club option for 2027 that could vest at $13MM depending on his plate appearance tally next year. Lowe is in the final guaranteed year of his deal but under club control on a bargain $11.5MM option that comes with a $500K buyout. Tampa Bay reinstated him from a minimal 10-day IL stint (left ankle tendinitis) yesterday.

Joel Sherman of The New York Post tied the Astros and Mets to Lowe earlier in the week. Houston has since added the righty-swinging Ramón Urías to handle third base but presumably remains in the mix for left-handed bats. The Mets are now focused on offense after making a trio of late-inning additions: Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto. This morning, ESPN’s Jorge Castillo listed Lowe as a hitter the Mets are considering.

Beyond Díaz and Lowe, the Rays have gotten a lot of hits on closer Pete Fairbanks. He’s playing on a $3.667MM salary and has a club option for next season. Lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger, who is eligible for arbitration for another two years, is a player to watch. The Rays were also reportedly listening on 24-year-old starter Taj Bradley earlier this month.

Dodgers Interested In Pete Fairbanks, Shane Bieber

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The Dodgers have been connected to a number of high-profile bats this summer, ranging from Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan to Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan. The focus has primarily been on upgrading the club’s bullpen, however, and while the L.A. has reportedly been connected to everyone from Ryan Helsley to David Bednar, those aren’t the only bullpen arms they could pursue. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic writes that the club is seeking “at least one” right-handed reliever on the trade market, and adds that they’ve shown interest in Rays closer Pete Fairbanks. Aside from that, it seems as though the Dodgers have at least some cursory interest in dabbling in the rotation market, with MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reporting that L.A. brass has spoken to Cleveland about right-hander Shane Bieber.

Fairbanks, 31, has a 20.2% strikeout rate that’s down relative to previous years but hasn’t seen his results impacted as he’s pitched to a 2.75 ERA and 2.89 FIP. His solid 47.8% ground ball rate helps to explain that to some extent, although some advanced metrics are still skeptical considering that his 3.98 SIERA this year is the worst of his career. With that being said, Fairbanks had a 34.1% strikeout rate and a 2.66 ERA over a four year stretch from 2020 to 2023, and given that he’s just two years removed from those heights it would hardly be surprising if some suitors hope to unlock that elite production from him again in the future. Further helping Fairbanks’s value is that he’s controllable through the 2026 season by way of a club option valued at $7MM.

That combination of strong recent results, an impressive track record, and additional team control beyond this season has made Fairbanks a hot commodity on the trade market. The Rangers and Cubs have both been directly connected to him in recent days in addition to the Dodgers, while a number of other teams like the Phillies, Blue Jays, and Tigers are known to be on the prowl for bullpen help. With that said, there’s reason to wonder if the Dodgers might bow out if the market gets too hot on Fairbanks. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic notes that the Dodgers are not currently in the “high-end” relief market. With that being said, Rosenthal specifically mentions Twins closer Jhoan Duran and A’s closer Mason Miller. Both Duran and Miller are even more well-regarded than Fairbanks while also coming with more team control, so it’s entirely possible that Fairbanks is someone the Dodgers would still be willing to pay a relative premium given that his acquisition cost would likely still be incomparable to the likes of Duran and Miller.

Moving on to Bieber, the Guardians are known to be “trying to move” the right-hander. He’s not yet pitched this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery early in the 2024 season, but figures to be ready to pitch at some point in August. A former Cy Young award winner with a 2.91 ERA and 2.96 FIP since the start of the 2020 season, Bieber is a legitimate front-of-the-rotation starter when healthy and could offer a huge boost to any club down the stretch and into the playoffs this year. The Cubs have been connected to Bieber already in the rumor mill, and a number of other teams like the Yankees and Blue Jays would also make sense for his services. A $16M player option ($4M buyout) for the 2026 season could complicate negotiations in theory, but it’s extremely unlikely that Bieber would exercise an option at that price point barring a significant injury given the ability of starters with his upside and track record to command far more than that even when coming off poor seasons.

The Dodgers are nonetheless a somewhat curious fit for his services given that they already have a stacked rotation that features Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Blake Snell along with a bevy of viable back-end depth options. On the other hand, the club had a rash of injuries that left them struggling to field a full rotation earlier this year, and after suffering that same fate in the playoffs last season it would be understandable if the club decided to add yet another high-end arm to the mix in order to safeguard themselves ahead of a postseason where they’ll be looking to defend their World Series title. Los Angeles already has six MLB starters on the 60-day injured list, and while Snell is expected to be activated in the near future that just goes to demonstrate the fragility of modern pitchers and the importance of having excess depth.

Rays, Rangers Have Had “Preliminary” Talks On Pete Fairbanks

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The Rangers and Rays have had “at least preliminary” conversations about Tampa Bay closer Pete Fairbanks, writes Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. Fairbanks is one of a handful of Rays veterans whose status is up in the air as the team considers its deadline approach.

Tampa Bay lost to the Yankees tonight, falling back to .500 in the process. They’re now three games back in the Wild Card race. That’s hardly insurmountable, yet the trend lines are not good. The Rays have a 7-16 record this month, an ill-timed skid that seemingly has forced the front office to more seriously consider a sell-off. ESPN’s Buster Olney relayed this afternoon that other teams expect the Rays to serve as one of the bigger sellers in the next two days.

It was less than a week ago that The Athletic reported that the Rays preferred to hold Fairbanks. Perhaps that’s still the case, but the Rays have dropped five out of six since then. A bubble team’s plans can change quickly this time of year. If the Rays do sell, Fairbanks would be an obvious candidate. He’s in the final guaranteed season of his three-year contract. There’s a club option for next season that’ll very likely be in eight figures after accounting for various escalators. That’d be a significant price for Tampa Bay to spend on a relief pitcher.

The 31-year-old Fairbanks is playing this season on a much cheaper $3.667MM salary. That’d be appealing to any team but would take on extra importance for Texas given their proximity to the luxury tax threshold. There’s no indication that Fairbanks is a specific priority for the Rangers, however. They’re casting a wide net in the search for a late-inning reliever and have also been tied to Ryan Helsley, David Bednar and Colorado’s Jake Bird within the past 12 hours.

Fairbanks would be a familiar face for some in the organization. Texas drafted him in the ninth round in 2015 and called him up for an eight-game cameo four years later. They traded him to the Rays in a regrettable 2019 deadline deal for Nick Solak. Fairbanks has become a high-leverage piece in Tampa Bay. He’s currently carrying a 2.75 ERA with 18 saves in 21 opportunities across 39 1/3 innings. This year’s 20.2% strikeout rate is a career low, which is a red flag, but he’s averaging his customary 97 MPH on his fastball and would immediately be the top power arm in the Texas bullpen.

Seranthony Dominguez, Pete Fairbanks Among Cubs’ Bullpen Targets

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The Cubs are eyeing upgrades for the back end of the bullpen and have looked into Orioles setup man Seranthony Dominguez and Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, reports Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. Levine notes that the Rays have been showing reluctance to part with Fairbanks, which lines up with recent reporting from Will Sammon, Katie Woo and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, wherein they indicate that Tampa Bay “strongly prefers” to hang onto Fairbanks (but are still hearing out interested teams who inquire).

Both Dominguez and Fairbanks are sensible targets for a Cubs bullpen in need of help. Dominguez is being paid $8MM in his final year of club control. He’s a pure free agent at season’s end. The 30-year-old righty is in his first full season with the O’s after having been acquired from the Phillies at last year’s deadline. He’s pitched 40 2/3 innings this season and worked to a sharp 3.32 ERA with a hefty 31% strikeout rate. Dominguez has been one of the primary setup options for closer Félix Bautista, tallying 13 holds and two saves of his own on the season. He’s averaged a sizzling 97.7 mph on his four-seamer and 97.9 mph on his sinker.

Command troubles have plagued Dominguez at times in his career, however, and that’s never been truer than in 2025. This year’s 14% walk rate is far and away the worst of his career, and he’s also tossed nine wild pitches. That’s clearly far from ideal, but Chicago’s combined 20.1% strikeout rate from their relievers is fourth-lowest in MLB, so adding some swing-and-miss is an understandable focus — particularly given how important that ability tends to be in the postseason.

Fairbanks is earning a bit more than $3.8MM this season and has a club option for the 2026 campaign. That option comes with a $7MM base value, but Fairbanks has already boosted that to to $8MM as he begins reaching escalator milestones. So long as he remains healthy, he’ll likely increase that option value considerably more.

The 31-year-old Fairbanks has already finished 29 games and boost next year’s option value by $500K for each of 30, 35 and 40 games finished in 2025. The option also climbs by $1MM apiece when Fairbanks reaches 135, 150 and 165 total appearances from 2023-25 combined. He’s currently at 134 games total between those three seasons. There’s a strong chance that option winds up valued at $11.5MM.

In the past, Fairbanks has missed bats at comparable levels to Dominguez, but his 20.3% strikeout rate in 2025 is a career-low. He’s dealt with shoulder, lat, forearm and hip injuries over the past five seasons, and a four-seamer that once averaged a blistering 99 mph has accordingly dropped off, sitting at 97.3 mph in each of the past two seasons.

Fairbanks’ swinging-strike rate has unsurprisingly dropped as he’s lost some zip on that heater, though his velocity is still well above average and he’s continued to remain effective. In 38 innings this season, he’s sporting a 2.84 earned run average and has gone 17-for-20 in save opportunities. With the exception of 21-inning rookie debut, Fairbanks has never posted an ERA north of 3.59 in a season. This year’s 2.84 ERA is almost a dead match for the 2.88 mark he’s compiled dating back to the 2020 season.

Dominguez and Fairbanks are surely just two of many targets the Cubs are eyeing as they look to bolster a relief corps that ranks 10th in the majors with a collective 3.78 ERA but 27th in strikeout rate, 15th in FIP (4.05) and 24th in SIERA (3.98). Emerging closer Daniel Palencia and resurgent veteran Brad Keller are both showing plus velocity, with the former sitting at a whopping 99.5 mph with his fastball and Keller sitting 97.1 mph. The rest of Chicago’s bullpen — aside from the currently injured Porter Hodge — has average to below-average velocity (and, in many cases, sub-par strikeout rates to match).

Rays Prefer To Keep Pete Fairbanks

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The Rays “strongly prefer” to hold closer Pete Fairbanks, report Patrick Mooney, Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic. Tampa Bay is one of many bubble teams, holding a 53-50 record that has them right on the edge of the Wild Card chase.

While the Rays are generally open to offers on almost everyone at any time, it’s understandable that they’re reluctant to deal Fairbanks this summer. They’ve had a middle-of-the-pack bullpen overall. They added to that group by acquiring Bryan Baker from the Orioles before the draft. At the same time, setup man Manuel Rodríguez will be out for an extended stretch with a forearm injury.

Garrett Cleavinger is an excellent left-hander, but they’re already short on high-leverage options from the right side. Even with Baker in the fold and Edwin Uceta racking up strikeouts this month, they’re better off acquiring another righty rather than trading one away. The Athletic reports that the Rays would indeed prioritize the bullpen if they buy in the next week.

The 31-year-old Fairbanks is operating as Kevin Cash’s primary closer for a third straight season. He’s 17-20 in save chances with a 2.84 earned run average across 38 innings. That comes with a career-low 20.3% strikeout rate that is cause for some alarm. The bottom line results nevertheless make Fairbanks one of their most trusted relievers.

Fairbanks is in the final guaranteed season of his three-year extension. He’s playing on an affordable $3.667MM salary. Fairbanks is guaranteed at least a $1MM buyout on a club option that is currently valued at $8MM but is likely to end up in eight figures by season’s end as he triggers escalators based on his appearances and games finished. That might be rich for Tampa Bay’s taste, but they’re under no financial pressure to move Fairbanks this season and could reevaluate their 2026 payroll situation once the offseason arrives.

Latest On Rays’ Deadline Possibilities

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The Rays stumbled into the All-Star Break. The Red Sox swept them in a four-game set at Fenway to conclude the first half. Tampa Bay has dropped 11 of their past 14 games. They’d climbed as high as 11 games above .500 in late June; they’re now just three over at 50-47.

Like many other fringe contenders, the Rays face a pivotal upcoming two weeks. They’ll play host to the Orioles and White Sox for very winnable series coming out of the Break. They’ll hit the road for sets in Cincinnati and a four-game series against the Yankees running through July 31. President of baseball operations Erik Neander acknowledged to Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times that the club’s deadline plans will in part be shaped by how they begin the second half.

“We’ve got to make up some ground,” Neander said of a team that sits a game and a half behind the Mariners for the last AL Wild Card spot. “There’s a belief in this team. … But these are really big games that will have some sort of influence on our decision-making as the month draws to a close.”

Unsurprisingly, Neander expressed hope that the team plays well enough for the front office to add. “I’d like to think that just about anything I think this group is capable of over these few weeks will lead us in a position where we’re looking to at least improve somewhere on the roster, if not significantly so,” he told Topkin. “But we’ve got to go out and play well and win. If we don’t, or if we have a stretch the way we had the last couple of weeks going into the Break, that comes with all sorts of additional questions that I’d much rather not think about.”

The Rays rarely operate as strict buyers or sellers. Remaining consistently competitive while operating with bottom five payrolls requires an openness to listening on veteran players even in years where they’re simultaneously trying to add to the big league roster. Tampa Bay already made one notable trade this month, acquiring controllable setup man Bryan Baker from Baltimore for the 37th pick in last Sunday’s draft. They could continue to add to the bullpen and/or bring in a right-handed bat (ideally in the outfield).

At the same time, they’ll certainly get calls on their more expensive players. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported last night that the Red Sox would be interested in Yandy Díaz if the Rays make him available. Boston has an obvious need for a right-handed hitting first baseman. Still, it’s not clear if the Rays will shop Díaz at all — much less to a division rival that currently sits 2.5 games above them in the standings.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote this morning that the Rays would likely hold onto Díaz, who is signed at a bargain rate for another two and a half seasons. He’s making $10MM this year and is guaranteed $12MM for next season. There’s a $10MM club option for ’27 that would vest at $13MM if he takes 500 plate appearances next year. Díaz and the Rays initially agreed to the extension in 2023 and restructured it just this spring to guarantee his ’26 earnings while adding the option year.

Rosenthal argues the Rays may be reluctant to trade Díaz so soon after he agreed to a team-friendly extension. That said, one could’ve made a similar point regarding Tyler Glasnow — whom the Rays traded to the Dodgers a little over a year after he signed an extension. Rosenthal nevertheless suggests that Tampa Bay would be likelier to move second baseman Brandon Lowe or closer Pete Fairbanks if the team doesn’t play well coming out of the Break.

Lowe went on the injured list with left oblique tightness last week but could be reinstated when first eligible tomorrow. He’s making $10.5MM this year and controllable for another season on an $11.5MM club option. Lowe started the year slowly but has been on a tear since May and is up to 19 homers with a .272/.324/.487 batting line.

Fairbanks has a 2.75 ERA and has gone 15-18 in save opportunities over 36 innings. His strikeout rate has been trending down for a couple seasons, though, dropping to a career-low 20.7% clip. While Fairbanks is playing this year on an extremely affordable $3.667MM salary, his contract contains an increasingly expensive club option for 2026.

That initially came with a $7MM base value but contained up to $6MM in escalators. Fairbanks has already pushed the option price to $8MM by reaching 125 appearances over the past three seasons and topping 25 games finished this year. It’ll climb by another $1MM when he makes three more appearances, $1MM more with 18 appearances, and another $1MM with 23 more games. It’d jump by $500K apiece with three, eight, and 13 more games finished.

Unless he suffers a significant injury, Fairbanks should push the option value well into eight figures. That’d make him one of the highest-paid players on the 2026 roster. As long as they’re in the playoff picture, the Rays may view that as an offseason problem. This year’s salary can only climb by a maximum of $300K. Yet it’s a factor for a front office that needs to balance the short and long term as much as any.

Beyond Lowe and Fairbanks, the Rays seem likely to shop a starting pitcher. Impending free agent Zack Littell is the most obvious candidate, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported over the weekend that they’re open to inquiries on controllable righty Taj Bradley.

The Rays have a strong rotation of Ryan Pepiot, Drew Rasmussen, Shane Baz, Littell and Bradley. Hard-throwing righty Joe Boyle is pitching in multi-inning relief, but Neander reiterated to Topkin that the Rays would be comfortable using Boyle as a starter if a spot opened. They’re also hopefully a couple weeks away from Shane McClanahan making his long-awaited return from injury.

Looking Ahead To Club Options: AL East

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MLBTR wraps our division by division look at next year’s team/mutual option class with the AL East. Virtually all of the mutual options will be bought out by one side. Generally, if the team is willing to retain the player at the option price, the player will decline his end in search of a better free agent deal.

Previous installments: player options/opt-outs, NL West, AL West, NL Central, AL Central, NL East

Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore signed Kittredge to a one-year, $10MM free agent deal over the winter. He’s making $9MM this season and has a matching club option or a $1MM buyout for 2026. Kittredge was supposed to be a key setup man in front of Félix Bautista, but he suffered a left knee injury early in camp and required a debridement surgery. He began a rehab stint at High-A Aberdeen on Sunday. While there’s plenty of time for Kittredge to turn things around, it hasn’t been the start to his O’s tenure that he envisioned.

Laureano, who was non-tendered by the Braves, signed a $4MM contract with Baltimore in February. That came with a $6.5MM team option without a buyout, giving the Orioles an extra season of club control. Injuries to Tyler O’Neill and Colton Cowser have pressed him into everyday work, mostly in left field. He hasn’t provided much through his first 24 games. Laureano is hitting .185 with a .237 on-base percentage through 59 plate appearances. He has hit a trio of home runs but struck out 18 times while drawing only four walks. Laureano has generally been a below-average hitter since being suspended following a positive PED test in 2021. He’ll need much better production over the next few months for the Orioles to exercise the option.

Boston Red Sox

Buehler signed a one-year, $21.05MM free agent deal to match the price of the qualifying offer — which the Dodgers had declined to issue when he hit the market. It’s a relatively expensive pillow contract. Buehler was coming off a dismal regular season, in which he’d posted a 5.38 ERA with a career-worst 18.6% strikeout rate over 16 starts. He finished his Dodger tenure on a high note, though, closing out the World Series while pitching to a 3.60 earned run average in 15 playoff innings.

An ace-caliber pitcher early in his career, Buehler hasn’t looked the same since undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career in August 2022. His stint in Boston has gotten out to a shaky start. While his 4.28 ERA through 33 2/3 innings is serviceable, he’s striking out just 20.7% of opponents while averaging a personal-low 93.5 MPH on his fastball. Shoulder inflammation sent him to the injured list last week. The mutual option was always an accounting measure designed to push the $3MM buyout to the end of the year rather than disbursing it throughout the season as salary. The team seems likelier to decline its end than the pitcher does.

Giolito signed a two-year, $38.5MM deal during the 2023-24 offseason. He negotiated an opt-out clause after the first season and hoped to retest the market after one strong year. Instead, Giolito’s elbow gave out during Spring Training and he required UCL surgery that cost him the entire season. The veteran righty made the easy decision to stick around for year two.

By exercising his player option, Giolito unlocked a 2026 option for the team. It’s valued at $14MM and comes with a $1.5MM buyout. If Giolito pitches 140 innings this year, it’d convert to a $19MM mutual option (still with the $1.5MM buyout). That’d give him a chance to test free agency if he wants. Giolito has an uphill battle to 140 frames. A hamstring strain cost him the first month of the season. He finally made his team debut last week, working six innings of three-run ball with seven strikeouts in a no-decision against Toronto. The Rangers tagged him for six runs on 10 hits in just 3 2/3 frames tonight.

The Red Sox added Hendriks on a two-year, $10MM deal over the 2023-24 offseason. They knew they wouldn’t get much in year one, as Hendriks had undergone Tommy John surgery the prior August. He attempted to make a late-season return last year but was shut down after a minor flare-up of elbow discomfort. Elbow inflammation shelved him for a couple weeks to begin this season, though he made his team debut in mid-April.

Hendriks allowed two runs on three hits in one inning during his first appearance. He has rattled off five straight scoreless outings since then, albeit with four walks in five frames. His 95 MPH average fastball is solid but below the 97-98 range at which he sat during his elite seasons with the White Sox.

Note: Jarren Duran’s arbitration deal contains a ’26 club option with an $8MM base salary. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the Sox decline the option.

New York Yankees

  • Tim Hill, LHP ($3MM club option, $350K buyout)

Hill finished last season with the Yankees after being released by the White Sox in June. He’d allowed nearly six earned runs per nine with Chicago but managed a tidy 2.05 ERA over 44 frames for New York. He’s out to a similarly productive start to the ’25 season. Hill has surrendered five runs through 17 1/3 innings (2.60 ERA).

While the soft-tossing lefty has managed just 11 strikeouts, his game has always been built around ground-balls. He’s getting grounders at a massive 81.6% clip thus far. Only nine of the 40 batted balls he’s allowed have been hit into the air. It’s easily the highest grounder rate in the majors. The Yankees value this skillset as much as any team, and the $2.65MM option decision is a drop in the bucket for them.

Loáisiga is still working back from last April’s elbow surgery. The righty has generally been a productive reliever when healthy, but he’s only once managed even 50 MLB innings in a season. He’s on a rehab stint with Low-A Tampa and will need another few weeks before he’s built into MLB game shape. Loáisiga is making $5MM this season. The option has a matching base value and could climb by another $500K if the Yankees exercise it. He’d earn $100K each at reaching 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 innings in 2026.

Tampa Bay Rays

Fairbanks is in the final guaranteed season of the three-year, $12MM extension that he signed before the 2023 campaign. That includes a $1MM buyout on a club option that comes with a $7MM base value. That’s a bargain for a quality high-leverage reliever, but the deal includes various escalators that could push the option price above $12MM.

The option value would climb by $500K if he gets to 125 combined appearances between 2023-25 and another $1MM apiece at 135, 150 and 165 combined outings. Fairbanks made it into 95 games over the first two seasons. He’d trigger the first $500K escalator at just 30 appearances this year and would max it out if he makes it into 70 games. He can boost the option price by another $2MM based on this year’s games finished total: $500K apiece at 25, 30, 35 and 40.

Fairbanks has never reached 50 appearances in a season because of various injuries, but he’s already at 14 games through this season’s first six weeks. Fairbanks has finished 11 of those contests while working as Kevin Cash’s primary closer. He has recorded 13 strikeouts against six walks while allowing three runs over 13 1/3 innings. The option price should remain solid value, though the escalators might eventually push it to an area where Tampa Bay would rather explore deadline or offseason trades rather than having a reliever projecting as one of the highest-paid players on the roster.

Jansen seemed to be pulling away from the rest of a weak free agent catching class early last season. His production tanked from June onwards, leaving him to sign an $8.5MM pillow contract with Tampa Bay. He’s making an $8MM salary and will collect a $500K buyout on a $12MM mutual option at year’s end. Last summer’s offensive drought has carried into 2025. Jansen has only one home run with a .147/.301/.221 batting line through 83 plate appearances. He remains a very patient hitter, but the Rays would have an easy decision to decline their end of the option if he doesn’t find the double-digit home run power he showed during his best seasons in Toronto.

Lowe has had a rare extended run with a Tampa Bay team that is almost always willing to trade any player. He’s in his eighth big league season and in year seven of the extension he signed in Spring Training 2019. Lowe collected $24MM for what would have been his standard six seasons of team control. The Rays exercised a $10.5MM option for this year and can retain him once more at an $11.5MM price. It’s an $11MM decision after accounting for the $500K buyout.

While injuries have been a recurring issue, Lowe has been one of the better offensive middle infielders in the sport when healthy. His 39-homer season in 2021 is an outlier, but he has tallied 21 longballs in each of the past two seasons. He’s out to a much slower start this year, batting .203/.258/.305 with four homers across 128 plate appearances. The batted ball metrics are still solid, but his career-worst 20.1% swinging strike rate is the fifth-highest among hitters with at least 50 PAs.

This one can still go a few different ways. If Lowe hits like this all season, he’d be bought out. If he finds something like his 2023-24 form (.238/.319/.458), then $11MM is reasonable. It’d keep him as one of Tampa Bay’s highest-paid players, though, so there’s a decent chance he’ll be traded at some point this year. The 16-18 Rays look like fringe Wild Card contenders for a second consecutive year. They could again try to walk the line between buying and selling come deadline season.

The Rays signed Waguespack to a restructured deal early last offseason. He’s making $1.3MM this season and has a $1.5MM club option for next year. That’d escalate to $2MM if he reaches 20 “points” this season. Waguespack would receive one point for each MLB relief appearance and two points per big league start. He has spent the ’25 season to date on optional assignment to Triple-A Durham.

Working as a pure reliever for the Bulls, Waguespack has reeled off 14 innings of two-run ball. He has fanned 15 hitters against three walks while getting ground-balls at a lofty 60% clip. It hasn’t earned him a major league call yet, but he should be up before too much longer if he keeps performing at that level. Waguespack spent the 2022-23 seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan. He made four MLB appearances with Tampa Bay last year but lost a good portion of the season to a rotator cuff injury.

Note: Taylor Walls’ arbitration deal contains a ’26 club option with a $2.45MM base salary. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the Rays decline the option.

Toronto Blue Jays

  • None

Players Linked To Union Discord Replaced In MLBPA Subcommittee Vote

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Back in March, disagreements within the Major League Baseball Players Association led to a battle for power within the union that was often framed as a mutiny or a coup. At that time, three active players were connected to the overthrow attempt: Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito and Ian Happ. Those three were on the MLBPA eight-player executive subcommittee but none of those three remain after recent voting, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic.

MLBTR readers who want a full refresher on the situation can check out these posts from March. The 2023-2024 offseason was miserable for players, as various teams dialed back spending, often citing declining TV revenue as the reason. Several players signed contracts that were far below initial expectations, most prominently the “Boras Four” of Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, Jordan Montgomery and Cody Bellinger.

On the heels of that winter, frustration boiled up within the players and they eventually appeared to be split into two camps. One camp attempted to replace deputy director Bruce Meyer with Harry Marino, and it was suggested by some that executive director Tony Clark also would have been ousted in the event Meyer was replaced. Ultimately, those efforts stalled out and the Clark/Meyer duo stayed atop the union’s leadership structure.

Marino had previously been the head of Advocates For Minor Leaguers, the group that unionized minor league players. The minor leaguers were placed under the MLBPA umbrella, with Marino and Meyer then negotiating with MLB the first ever collective bargaining agreement for minor league players. Minor leaguers received 34 of the 72 seats on the MLBPA executive board, but Marino and Meyer reportedly did not get along, with Marino leaving the union at some point.

Though Marino was out of the union, it seems he was well liked enough in some circles that this attempt was made to install him into a very prominent position. Despite the frustrating winter for players, Meyer had made some notable gains for players in the 2022 CBA, his first in this role. The competitive balance tax tiers all went up, though a fourth tier was added. The minimum salaries were also raised in notable fashion, and a bonus pool for pre-arbitration players was created, among other advancements for players.

Regardless, the frustration was real and significant enough to threaten Meyer and perhaps Clark in the leadership structure, though they ultimately survived. Back in March, Flaherty seemed to express regret about the way things played out, though he also seemed surprised by the way Marino proceeded.

“There was one phone call that went on that I put Tony in a bad position in, where Harry tried to push his way through,” Flaherty told Ken Rosenthal at the time. “He tried to pressure Tony, and Tony stood strong, said this is not going to happen. Tony has done nothing but stand strong in all of this. That was something I would love to take back. I never wanted Harry to be in Bruce’s position.” Flaherty repeated that he was not trying to replace Meyer. “I said he’s not somebody to replace Bruce, but if you guys want to listen to him, we can continue this conversation. Things got way out of hand after that.” Flaherty then went on to compliment Meyer for the job he had done with the recent CBA.

The MLBPA votes on those subcommittee spots every two years. The union announced this week a new subcommittee consisting of Chris Bassitt, Jake Cronenworth, Pete Fairbanks, Cedric Mullins, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Marcus Semien and Brent Suter. Semien and Suter are the lone holdovers from the previous subcommittee.

As noted by Drellich, the subcommittee is significant because key matters are often settled with a 38-person vote. Each of the 30 teams have a representative with one vote, and the eight subcommittee members get the remaining eight votes. Those 30 team reps vote on the eight subcommittee members. The eight players selected this week will have their positions for the next two years, which aligns with the end of the current CBA, as that agreement goes until Dec. 2, 2026.

All relations between MLB and the MLBPA have appeared to be contentious in recent years, from CBA negotiations to the COVID-related shutdown to on-field rule changes. The most recent CBA involved a lockout of more than three months and came perilously close to canceling games. On the other hand, the two sides agreed in the middle of the 2024 campaign to redirect some CBT money towards teams that had lost broadcast revenue, a fairly rare instance of a notable financial decision made outside normal CBA talks.

With another round of collective bargaining due two years from now, the possibility of another lockout is also on the horizon. The league and the union will have plenty to work out, including the ongoing broadcast uncertainty, the international draft and other big-picture issues along with the typical bargaining topics like salaries, taxes and revenue sharing. As such, the developments within the union will have notable ramifications for the baseball world.

Rays’ Jeffrey Springs, Pete Fairbanks Drawing Trade Interest

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There’s never an offseason where the Rays don’t have multiple players circulating the rumor mill, and this winter is no exception. Tampa Bay already flipped center fielder Jose Siri to the Mets last month, and there’s been plenty of speculation about the possibility of trades of some of their veteran players earning notable salaries. Yandy Diaz has often been the focus, but he’s one of several players who could draw interest. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports that closer Pete Fairbanks and left-hander Jeffrey Springs are among the Rays who’ve been popular in trade talks recently.

It’s not a huge surprise to see either player’s name pop up in trade rumblings. Fairbanks featured prominently on MLBTR’s list of top offseason trade candidates back in early November. Springs is the most expensive of at least six healthy rotation options for the Rays. Both players are signed for multiple seasons.

Springs, 32, has two years and $21MM remaining on a four-year, $31MM extension he signed prior to the 2023 season. The contract contains a $15MM club option for the 2027 season ($750K buyout). To this point, that contract hasn’t panned out as hoped, though not necessarily through any real fault of Springs. The journeyman southpaw broke out with the Rays in 2022, posting a sparkling 2.46 ERA with a strong 26.2% strikeout rate and terrific 5.6% walk rate in 135 2/3 innings. He looked like another late-blooming diamond in the rough unearthed by a Rays front office with a knack for just that type of discovery.

Unfortunately, Springs hasn’t been healthy since. He made three dominant starts to open the 2023 season (16 innings, one run allowed, 24-to-4 K/BB ratio) and then suffered a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery. He missed the remainder of the ’23 campaign and made it back to the mound for seven big league starts and 33 innings late last year. The results were good in that limited sample. Springs posted a sharp 3.27 earned run average, fanned 26.1% of opponents and held his walks to a 7.7% rate. His average four-seamer was down from 91.4 mph in 2022 to 89.8 mph in 2024, however, and he saw similar velocity drops on his slider and changeup. Springs’ 12.9% swinging-strike rate was still strong, but it’s down from the 14.2% clip he displayed in 2021-23.

In addition to Springs, the Rays have Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Zack Littell, Taj Bradley, Shane Baz and a returning Shane McClanahan (2022 Tommy John surgery) all in the mix for starts next year. That’s in addition to yet-to-debut prospects like Joe Rock and Ian Seymour, who both excelled in the upper minors last year. Springs has looked the part of a high-end starter in the past but only for a fleeting span of about 150 innings across 2022-23. The Rays would be selling a bit low, but his $10.5MM salary is steep for them under normal circumstances — let alone at a time when the club is facing likely revenue losses following Hurricane Milton’s decimation of Tropicana Field’s roof and the club’s subsequent agreement to play at Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field — the spring training and Class-A home of the Yankees.

Fairbanks, 30, has been terrific when healthy in five seasons with the Rays. “When healthy” is an unfortunately crucial caveat, however, as the flamethrowing 6’6″ righty has never reached 50 appearances or topped 45 1/3 innings in a big league season. Dating back to 2020, Fairbanks touts a 2.89 ERA. He fanned nearly 35% of his opponents from 2020-23 but saw that number slip to a roughly average 23.7% this past season. Fairbanks didn’t have a huge loss of velocity on his heater, but it dipped from an average of 98 mph from ’20-’23 to 97.3 mph in 2024. His slider saw a larger drop, going from an average of 86.4 mph to 85 mph over those same periods.

The Rays signed Fairbanks to a three-year, $12MM contract that bought out all three arbitration years (2023-25) and guaranteed them control over his first free-agent season in the form of a 2026 club option. He’s owed $3.666MM this season with a $7MM option ($1MM buyout) on his ’26 campaign. Even for a partial season of a reliever with Fairbanks’ upside, it’s a pretty modest price to pay. As such, there’s no inherent urgency for the Rays to move him. They might feel a bit more motivated to move Springs and his weightier salary, but to this point it’s not clear the Rays are necessarily shopping either — just that they’ve drawn interest.

The Rays’ lot in life, of course, is to constantly listen on all of their players as they progress through their arbitration years or the latter stages of any contract extensions. This year’s stadium troubles and the uncertainty surrounding their home in 2026 and beyond only add to that.

At the same time, Tampa Bay already significantly culled payroll with their series of deadline trades and via the departures of some arb-eligible players (via trade and non-tender). RosterResource projects a bit less than $79MM in payroll for the Rays this coming season — already a drop of more than $10MM from their 2024 levels. Trading Springs, Fairbanks or other veterans like the aforementioned Diaz or Brandon Lowe could further reduce spending and free up the Rays to take on some money in other trades. With regard to free agency, they’re in a similar spot to the A’s in that they’ll have to persuade players to sign on for at least one year (and likely more) playing their home games in a minor league facility.

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