Thursday was the first day of the MLB offseason, with 139 players hitting free agency, plus option decisions on several others. Some of the biggest names affected on Thursday include David Ortiz, Jonathan Lucroy, Jay Bruce and Matt Holliday.
2017 options exercised for Jonathan Lucroy, David Ortiz, Jay Bruce, others
There were several moves on the first day of baseball’s offseason
Ortiz still plans to retire after his remarkable 2016 campaign, but the Boston Red Sox exercised his club option for 2017 just in case, worth $17.2 million should he change his mind.
Boston also exercised its option on pitcher Clay Buchholz, bringing him back for $13.5 million.
The easiest call of the day was the Texas Rangers picking up the option for All-Star catcher Lucroy worth $5.25 million, one of the most team-friendly deals around. Lucroy hit .292/.355/.500 with 24 home runs in 2016, including .276/.345/.539 with 11 home runs in 47 games after joining the Rangers in a midseason trade.
The New York Mets plan to exercise the option on outfielder Jay Bruce for $13 million, at the very least providing coverage should Yoenis Cespedes sign elsewhere. New York declined the $10 million option on pitcher Jon Niese.
The Philadelphia Phillies announced they declined the option on first baseman Ryan Howard, paying him a whopping $10 million buyout rather than a $23 million salary in 2017. Philadelphia also declined the $9.5 million club option on pitcher Charlie Morton, instead paying him a $500,000 buyout.
The St. Louis Cardinals plan to bring back pitcher Jaime Garcia, exercising his $12 million option for 2017 per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. St. Louis also plans to decline the $17 million option on Holliday and the $5.25 million option of reliever Jordan Walden, paying them buyouts of $1 million and $250,000, respectively.
The San Francisco Giants had an easy call in exercising the 2017 club option for left-hander Matt Moore, per Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball. Moore, acquired from the Rays on Aug. 1, will earn $7 million in 2017, and has club options for 2018 and 2019 as well that could pay him a total of $26 million over the next three seasons.
Gio Gonzalez will return to the Washington Nationals, who exercised his $12 million option. Washington parted ways with pitcher Yusmeiro Petit, declining his $3 million and instead paying a $250,000 buyout.
The Seattle Mariners decided to bring back outfielder Seth Smith for $7 million, but declined the $4.25 million option on catcher Chris Iannetta. Seattle also had a 2017 option on outfielder Nori Aoki, who was claimed off waivers by the Houston Astros.
The White Sox declined $3 million option on Matt Albers, instead paying him a $250,000 buyout.
Thanks to the invaluable Cot’s Baseball Contracts for some of the salary data used in this post.
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