Big-name players with 2025 options and what they might do

Earlier this week, we released our first free-agent power rankings for the upcoming Hot Stove season, and while we included Blake Snell and Matt Chapman – two players expected to opt out of their contracts to give free agency another try – there are dozens of players whose immediate future won’t be determined until after the season.

Some have player options or opt-out clauses, giving them an opportunity to test the free-agent market if they choose. Others have vesting options that won’t be determined until the season is complete, while many have club options in their contracts, giving teams the decision on whether to bring them back for 2025.

MLB.com looks at more than two dozen of these players and the situations that will play out in the early days of the offseason.

Opt-out clauses

Gerrit Cole, RHP, Yankees
Remaining contract: 4 years, $144 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 34

Cole is five years into the nine-year, $324 million deal he signed in December 2019, a contract that includes the ability to opt out and become a free agent again this offseason. Should Cole decide to opt out – a big if, given his injury-shortened 2024 campaign – then the Yankees can void the opt-out by adding another year at $36 million to the end of the contract, locking up Cole through 2029, making his total deal worth $360 million over 10 years.

Mitch Haniger, OF, Mariners
Remaining contract: 1 year, $15.5 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 34

Haniger can opt out of the final year of his three-year, $43.5 million contract, but injuries and underperformance the past two seasons make it unlikely that the 33-year-old will choose to test free agency. Haniger, who played in only 61 games with the Giants in 2023, has 12 home runs and a .643 OPS in 106 games this season.

Nick Martinez, RHP, Reds
Remaining contract: 1 year, $12 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 34

Martinez earned $14 million in 2024, the first year of the two-year, $26 million contract he signed in November. The right-hander can opt out of the final year and test the market again, and given his strong performance for Cincinnati (3.64 ERA in 101 1/3 innings), Martinez could look to secure a longer deal in free agency.

Robbie Ray, LHP, Giants
Remaining contract: 2 years, $50 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 33

Ray has made only six starts since the beginning of 2023 and has been uneven in his 27 2/3 innings this season, making it an extreme long-shot that the 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner will opt out of his deal.

Player options

Cody Bellinger, OF/1B, Cubs
Remaining contract: 2 years, $52.5 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 29

Bellinger signed a three-year, $80 million deal with the Cubs last winter, one which includes player options for 2025 ($27.5 million) and 2026 ($25 million). Bellinger’s numbers this season have been average (13 homers, .756 OPS), but he’s been better since returning from the IL on July 30, hitting four homers with an .822 OPS in 18 games. A strong finish could prompt him to test the market again this winter.

Matt Chapman, 3B, Giants
Remaining contract: 2 years, $35 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 31

Chapman has been extremely productive after a slow start (.599 OPS in his first 44 games), belting 15 home runs with an .872 OPS over his past 82 games. The third baseman was part of the “Boras Four” that waited for most of last offseason before signing his three-year, $54 million deal that includes player options for 2025 ($17 million, $2 million buyout) and 2026 ($18 million, $3 million buyout). Barring injury or a poor finish to the year, Chapman could give free agency another shot entering his age-32 season.

Wilmer Flores, INF, Giants
Remaining contract: 1 year, $3.5 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 33

Flores has a $3.5 million player option for the final year of the three-year, $16.5 million contract he signed in September 2022. Should Flores decline the option, however, the Giants would then hold an $8.5 million club option, giving them an opportunity to keep Flores with a raise from the $6.5 million he’s earned in each of the past two seasons. Flores’ subpar season (four home runs, .595 OPS in 71 games) ended with a late-July knee injury, leaving him in a tricky spot, as declining his option could wind up sending him to the open market off a down year.

Lucas Giolito, RHP, Red Sox
Remaining contract: 1 year, $19 million ($1 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 30

Giolito (elbow surgery) didn’t throw a pitch for Boston in 2024 after signing a two-year, $38.5 million deal last December, so it would be a complete shock if he didn’t exercise his player option for 2025. If he does, the Red Sox will then hold a $14 million club option on Giolito for 2026, though that could become a $19 million mutual option with a $1.5 million buyout if the righty pitches 140 innings next season.

Rhys Hoskins, 1B, Brewers
Remaining contract: 1 year, $18 million ($4 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 32

Hoskins signed a two-year, $34 million contract with the Brewers in January, earning $12 million in 2024 with an $18 million player option ($4 million buyout) for 2025. After missing all of 2023 following ACL surgery, Hoskins has been a solid fit in Milwaukee, hitting 20 home runs with 60 RBIs and a .730 OPS in 99 games. If he exercises his option, Hoskins will then have an $18 million mutual option ($4 million buyout) for 2026.

Clayton Kershaw, LHP, Dodgers
Remaining contract: 1 year, $5 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 37

As long as he is healthy at the end of this season, Kershaw’s option can escalate significantly based on his number of starts and/or relief appearances of at least three innings. Unless he opts to retire, it seems likely that the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner will return to the only club for which he has ever pitched, though it remains to be seen if he’s ready to make that decision immediately after the season.

Sean Manaea, LHP, Mets
Remaining contract: 1 year, $13.5 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 33

Manaea is having one of the best seasons of his career, going 9-5 with a 3.48 ERA in 25 starts. The southpaw signed a two-year, $28 million deal with the Mets in January, but his performance could prompt him to opt out of the final year and test free agency again this winter.

Jordan Montgomery, LHP, D-backs
Remaining contract: 1 year, $22.5 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 32

Montgomery inked a one-year, $25 million contract for 2024 just days before the regular season began, though the deal included a $20 million vesting player option for 2025 that kicked in once he made 10 starts. His 19 starts this season have boosted that option to $22.5 million, and with 23 starts, it will escalate to $25 million. Montgomery has pitched poorly this season (6.44 ERA), making it unlikely that he would decline the option to become a free agent.

Emilio Pagán, RHP, Reds
Remaining contract: 1 year, $8 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 33

Pagán inked a two-year, $16 million contract in November that included an $8 million player option for 2025. The righty has thrown just 25 2/3 innings this season, making only one appearance between May 20 and Aug. 10 due to a lat injury that resulted in a pair of stints on the injured list. Pagán is likely to exercise his option and stay in Cincinnati.

Blake Snell, LHP, Giants
Remaining contract: 1 year, $30 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 32

Snell’s two-year, $62 million deal with San Francisco included a $30 million player option for 2025, leaving him with a chance to test free agency for a second straight year. Snell has been outstanding since the beginning of July (1.03 ERA in eight starts, including a no-hitter), and after struggling to find a long-term deal last winter, the two-time Cy Young Award winner could very well look for such a deal entering his age-32 season.

Michael Wacha, RHP, Royals
Remaining contract: 1 year, $16 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 33

Wacha’s two-year, $32 million deal has been a great signing for the Royals, as the right-hander is 10-6 with a 3.33 ERA in 22 starts this season. After earning $16 million in 2024, Wacha – who has had a very positive influence on Kansas City’s young clubhouse – can earn the same salary in 2025 if he triggers his player option, or he can decline it and give free agency another try this winter.

Vesting options

Nathan Eovaldi, RHP, Rangers
Remaining contract: 1 year, $20 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 35

If Eovaldi throws 29 more innings this season, he will reach the 300-inning mark since the start of 2023, triggering a $20 million player option for next season. The 34-year-old is aiming for his fifth straight year with a sub-4.00 ERA, so even if he throws enough innings to earn the option, it’s no lock that he would take it rather than testing the free-agent market.

Justin Verlander, RHP, Astros
Remaining contract: 1 year, $35 million
Age at start of 2025 season: 42

The two-year, $86.66 million contract Verlander signed with the Mets in December 2022 included a $35 million vesting option for 2025 that triggers if he throws 140 innings this season and has no injury to his right arm. A shoulder injury kept Verlander out for the first three weeks of the season, while a neck issue kept him on the IL from June 9 through Aug. 21. Verlander has thrown only 62 innings this season, making it extremely unlikely he can reach 140 innings.

Club options

Kyle Gibson, RHP, Cardinals
Remaining contract: 1 year, $12 million ($1 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 37

Gibson is 7-5 with a 4.22 ERA in 24 starts this season, one of three St. Louis starters to log more than 130 innings to this point. Gibson’s option is for the same salary he earned in 2024, making it a distinct possibility the Cardinals will exercise the option for back-end rotation depth.

Eloy Jiménez, DH, Orioles
Remaining contract: $16.5 million option ($3 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 28

Jiménez’s deal includes club options for 2025 and 2026 ($18.5 million, $3 million buyout), and while the White Sox sent $4 million to the Orioles to pay down almost all of his 2024 salary, it would be a surprise for Baltimore to exercise the option for 2025, though a reunion on a new deal is a possibility.

Craig Kimbrel, RHP, Orioles
Remaining contract: 1 year, $13 million ($1 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 36

Kimbrel earned $12 million in 2024 after signing a deal with Baltimore, which needed a new closer after Félix Bautista’s Tommy John surgery knocked him out for the entire season. Kimbrel blew six of his 29 save opportunities this season, costing him the closer’s role by the end of July. With Bautista slated to return in 2025, it would be surprising to see the Orioles exercise Kimbrel’s option.

Brandon Lowe, 2B, Rays
Remaining contract: 1 year, $10.5 million ($1 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 30

Lowe is in the final year of the six-year, $24 million deal he signed with the Rays in March 2019, but the contract includes club options for 2025 ($10.5 million, $1 million buyout) and 2026 ($11.5 million, $500,000 buyout). Although those salaries are hefty by Rays standards, it would make sense for Tampa Bay to exercise the option even if the plan is to trade Lowe – who has 16 homers and an .820 OPS in 77 games in 2024 – before next season.

Lance Lynn, RHP, Cardinals
Remaining contract: 1 year, $11 million ($1 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 37

Lynn signed a one-year, $11 million contract with the Cardinals last November, giving St. Louis a club option for 2025 in the deal. Lynn is 6-4 with a 4.06 ERA in 21 starts this season, though a knee injury has slowed him this month. Even with his reasonable salary, it’s far from certain that the Cardinals will pick up the option.

Manuel Margot, OF, Twins
Remaining contract: 1 year, $12 million ($2 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 30

The Twins paid only $4 million for Margot after acquiring him from the Dodgers, who paid $6 million of his $10 million salary in 2024. Los Angeles will also be kicking in the $2 million for the buyout if Minnesota declines his club option, which the Twins are expected to do after the season.

Marcell Ozuna, DH, Braves
Remaining contract: 1 year, $16 million ($1 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 34

Ozuna is completing the four-year, $65 million deal he signed in February 2021, and after pacing Atlanta’s offense in virtually every category this season, it would be a surprise if the Braves didn’t trigger the option to keep the slugger.

Jorge Polanco, 2B, Mariners
Remaining contract: 1 year, $12 million ($750,000 buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 31

Following a dismal first half (.197 average, five home runs and a .566 OPS in 61 games), it seemed like a long shot that Polanco would have his $12 million option exercised for 2025. Since the All-Star break, the 31-year-old has seven homers and a .902 OPS in 27 games, giving Seattle something to think about after the season.

Anthony Rizzo, 1B, Yankees
Remaining contract: 1 year, $17 million ($6 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 35

Rizzo has been on the injured list with a fractured right forearm since mid-June, playing in only 70 games this season. The 35-year-old has eight homers and a .630 OPS in 2024, and with internal options like Ben Rice and DJ LeMahieu under contract for 2025, the Yankees are unlikely to pick up Rizzo’s option.

Eugenio Suárez, 3B, D-backs
Remaining contract: 1 year, $15 million ($2 million buyout)
Age at start of 2025 season: 33

Suárez has been productive in his first year with Arizona, but after making $11 million in 2024 (the final year of his seven-year, $66 million contract), his salary would jump to $15 million if the D-backs exercise the option. Jordan Lawlar could take over at third base, or Arizona could look to find a less expensive option if they let Suárez go.