MLBTR concludes our phase-by-section look at the upcoming team/NL West tie-in option decisions.
Past: AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, NL Central
The Arizona Diamondbacks
This is the final guaranteed season of Gurriel’s three-year, $42MM free agent contract. The veteran outfielder skipped his opt-out last winter, giving the Diamondbacks a $14MM club option or a $5MM buyout through the 2027 season. The latter seems likely.
Gurriel had a solid 2024 season. His numbers took a small step back last year before he tore the ACL in his right knee trying to avoid an outside collision in early September. He underwent surgery and started this season on the injured list. Gurriel made a faster-than-expected recovery to return to the lineup in mid-April. He didn’t look fully, though. He managed one home run while hitting .228/.284/.304 in 102 plate appearances.
One can rightly write about this past month as it removes the rust. Gurriel did not get any game action during Spring Training. His minor league rehab assignment included exactly two games in Double-A. If Arizona’s field was in better shape, they probably would have given him a few weeks of rehab stint to get used to the speed of the game.
All told, Gurriel’s performance before the injury would not have earned him an additional $9MM to exercise the option. He went down again last week with a strained left hamstring which will further hamper his effort to get into a rhythm.
Details of Santana’s mutual option have not been made public. It’s probably a moot point, since similar options are often included just to suspend part of the guarantee until the end of the season with a buyout fee. Signed to meet it Pavin Smith Initially, Santana was limited to eight games due to an adductor strain and was placed on the 60-day disabled list this afternoon.
Arizona added Soroka in a $7.5MM free agent deal. He is playing for a $6.5MM salary and will collect a $1MM buyout at the end of the season. Soroka has already added another $500K in incentives for making 10+ starts and could earn up to $2MM in bonuses if he reaches 25 starts.
Soroka has been an incredibly important piece of Torey Lovullo’s rotation. He owns a 3.25 ERA with a 23.5% strikeout rate against a clean 5.5% walk percentage over 61 innings. Durability is a lingering question for the Canadian-born righty, who hasn’t hit 100 home runs in a season since 2019. If Soroka can hold anything close to this level in a full schedule, his side will easily pass selection. He should dominate for at least two years and could have a third offense if he stays healthy, as he is one of the youngest (29 in August) in what looks to be a bad free agency.
The Colorado Rockies
Lorenzen’s $8MM free agent deal pays him $7.75MM in salary and at least a $250K buyout of next year’s $9MM team option. The Rockies made a few turnaround pickups last season, mostly low-ceiling veterans with deep arms that they hoped would lift the floor. Tomoyuki Sugano worked well enough, but Lorenzen once Jose Quintana I don’t have it.
The 34-year-old righty has a 7.22 earned run average in 57 1/3 innings. He was destroyed at Coors Field and didn’t do well on the road either. Loreznen’s strikeout rate has dropped from around league average to a career-worst 15.4%, and he’s completed six innings just once – a seven-inning start at Citi Field on April 24. This will be an easy buy if Lorenzen sticks with the lineup for the rest of the season.
Senzatela is in the final season of a guaranteed five-year, $50.5MM extension that was signed in October 2021. It was one of the first moves under former GM Bill Schmidt, whose front office continued Colorado’s tradition of remaining heavily committed to their internal development successes. It looked like an unforced error at the time and it got off to a bad start, as Senzatela was injured and/or inactive from 2022-25.
Colorado moved the righty to the bullpen late in the ’25 season. Sennzatela remains free and successful this year, appearing to open the second act as a top-class arm. He pitched 33 innings of 1.36 ERA ball while averaging a career-best 97.1 mph on his four-seam fastball. He now uses a low-90s cutter — which he picked up last August — as his second-best offering. Opponents are hitting .143 in the last 43 plate appearances in that stretch.
Senztaela’s 21% strikeout rate and 11.1% swinging strikeout mark are both career highs. They are still looking for a reliever, but Senzatela has better things to go with his long reign. He is capable of working multiple innings in high pitches and has earned his first three saves. He’s unlikely to shut down an opponent’s games, but he’s positioned well enough to make himself a trade deadline figure.
The front office led by Paul DePodesta is cashing in on Senzatela in order to acquire a few middle-of-the-road prospects this summer. The $14MM option price still seems rich for a reliever without the bigs, but Senzatela could command two years in the low range of a year in free agency heading into his age-32 season.
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
The Padres make the most of the partnership option, as they seem to always walk a tightrope trying to add to the lineup without taking on short-term commitments. Andujar will be paid a $2.5MM buyout after playing this season with a $1.5MM salary. He’s having a decent but unusual season, hitting .259/.292/.441 with five homers as San Diego’s designated hitter.
Canning is bringing in $1MM in revenue and will collect a $1.5MM buyout by the end of the year. He returned from a ruptured Achilles last year in early May. Opponents marked him with a 7.16 ERA in his first six starts, only one of which lasted six innings. His stuff looks similar to early last year, but he’s struggling and has already given up six home runs in 27 2/3 frames.
San Diego finally ended Giolito’s long free-agent tenure with a $3MM contract in mid-April. He makes $1.5MM in salary and will earn the same buyout with an $8MM affiliate option. Giolito spent a month in the minors getting in game shape and hasn’t looked good in his three MLB starts. He had at least as many walks as each strikeout, and his average fastball of 93 mph last season in Boston sits at 90-91 this year. There’s no indication that Giolito isn’t healthy yet, but it’s not encouraging that he’s dealing with this kind of stuff after finishing last season on the injured list with a flexor tear.
- Kyle HartLHP: $2.5MM club option ($200K buyout)
Hart struggled last year in his first season back in MLB after a strong ’24 campaign in Korea. The Padres however brought him back with a $1MM salary and at least a $200K buyout of the $2.5MM 2027 club option. While the 6’5″ lefty didn’t need to show much for that to really be considered, this year hasn’t gone well.
San Diego moved Hart to relief. He worked 16 2/3 innings in 12 big league games, allowing 10 runs on 12 hits. Hart walked six, hit two batters, and recorded 10 strikeouts. The Padres optioned him to Triple-A last month, and the minor league results have been dire. Even with the Pacific Coast League’s warnings, there isn’t much reason to be optimistic about Hart deserving a 40-man roster spot this offseason barring a second-half turnaround.
Márquez will take home a $750K buyout after this year’s $1MM salary. This will be one of the easiest for the team to go down, as the former Colorado righty has thrown a 5.76 ERA through 29 2/3 innings. He missed the last month with nerve irritation in his arm.
The San Francisco Giants
San Francisco signed Wick to a major league contract during Spring Training. The move was always looking toward 2027, as the 33-year-old reliever underwent Tommy John surgery last year and will spend the rest of the season on the injured list. They will assess his rehab progress before making a decision on an option.
Wick hasn’t pitched in MLB since 2022 but is coming off a great season in Japan (0.84 ERA in 42 2/3 innings). That the Giants were willing to pay him the MLB minimum salary this year to put him on the roster suggests they are leaning towards exercising the option as long as his early recovery is smooth.
