Other Options Decisions of Note: Flaherty, Perez, Robert, Story, Kim, More ...Middle East

The Shane Bieber option decision – sticking with the Blue Jays for effectively one year and $12 million – was the biggest stunner so far, but there are other options decisions around baseball to share and comment upon.

This is not a comprehensive list of all options decisions, mind you, as many were extremely obvious (oh wow, the Braves are keeping Chris Sale, that’s crazy). These are just the ones that were surprising, interesting, or merited a little discussion …

Until Bieber, the decision I was finding most curious was Jack Flaherty, opting to stick with the Tigers for $20 million for 2025. It was definitely a big surprise, given the expectation that he could get a larger guarantee in free agency. But also, given that he would’ve been eligible for a Qualifying Offer worth a couple million more, this decision means he believed the Tigers WOULD NOT make him that offer (otherwise, he could’ve just opted out, and then accepted the QO and made a little more). So, even unattached to draft pick compensation, Flaherty preferred 1/$20M over whatever he thought he could get out there. It’s not quite as shocking as Bieber’s decision, but it’s definitely a surprise. And, like with Bieber, it suggests that players may fear that high-value, longer-term deals just aren’t going to be out there for them this offseason. It’s worth saying that Flaherty is coming off a down-results year (4.64 ERA), though the peripherals were closer to what he did in 2024, and he also only just turned 30. He was projected by most to get a multi-year deal with an AAV pretty close to $20 million as is. So, yeah, surprising decision, and perhaps an ominous one for someone like Shōta Imanaga (call that another data point that strongly suggests he will not get a Qualifying Offer tomorrow, and if he does, maybe he should take it). The Royals are keeping catcher Sal Perez around on a new two-year, $25 million deal, which supersedes the $13.5 million option the team had for 2026. Perez, heading into his age-36 season, is coming off a down year, hitting .236/.284/.446/95 wRC+, with defense that rated pretty rough. But you’re talking about a local hero in that organization, and a price tag that isn’t THAT much more than you’d pay for a good back-up catcher. I get why the Royals would do it, especially since it lowered their 2026 commitment in the process (and if the 2027 season gets wiped out, maybe they don’t even have to pay for that second year – how cynical would THAT be!). The White Sox are retaining outfielder Luis Robert Jr. at $20 million in 2026, which is not a surprise given his upside and the team option for 2027, but obviously it’s been a ROUGH couple years for the former star. I tend to think the White Sox are going to try (again) to trade the 28-year-old outfielder. The Brewers declined a club option on catcher William Contreras, which might look shocking at first blush, but it’s not. The option was worth $12 million, and he’s still under club control via arbitration in any case – so the Brewers are simply betting that he’ll get something less than $12 million in arbitration. You could’ve made a stretch argument for Trevor Story, 32, to opt out of his deal with the Red Sox after a long-awaited bounce-back year in 2025 (.263/.308/.433/101 wRC+, 31 SB, 25 HR, 3.0 WAR), but he is not opting out. Instead, he will stay on his deal that pays him $25 million each of the next two years, plus a $25 million team option for 2028 ($5 million buyout). Would he have topped 2/$55M in free agency? I really doubt it, even without the CBA threat looming. Elsewhere on the infield, Ha-Seong Kim opted out of his deal with the Braves (the one they snagged on the chance he would decide to opt in), rather than play in 2026 for $16 million. The 30-year-old blew out his shoulder in advance of last offseason, which wrecked what would’ve been a major free agency score, so he’ll try again this offseason – but coming off a platform year that saw him hit just .234/.304/.345/82 wRC+ over 48 games. He got better as the year went on, and he still can play good defense all over the infield, but it wouldn’t have been a shock to see him want to just stick around for $16 million. Count that one as a sign that he doesn’t expect this to be a particularly rough offseason. His is a very difficult free agency to project, especially given how weak the middle infield market is this year. The Cubs have a $5.25 million decision to make on Colin Rea ($6 million team option, or $750,000 buyout), and the tea leaves have made that feel like a closer call than it did just a couple days ago. I still think the Cubs will see too much value there to pass up, but I guess we’ll see.

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