Philadelphia Phillies Exercise $9 Million Option on Pending Free Agent

The Philadelphia Phillies are looking to be a force this winter as the team has some significant decisions during free agency. However, they have already made one decision to keep a player with a team option for the 2026 season. Let’s take a deeper dive into who it is and what this means going forward for the team.

Philadelphia Phillies Exercise Team Option on Jose Alvarado

The Philadelphia Phillies have strengthened their bullpen ahead of free agency as they have exercised the 2026 team option for reliever Jose Alvarado, paying him $9 million for the 2026 season. This is the final year of a three-year, $22 million contract that he signed before the 2023 season as an arbitration extension to buy out his final year of arbitration.

The club option included a $500,000 buyout, which essentially makes this an $8.5 million decision that Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made. This should not come as a surprise as he actually hinted at this decision last month.

“I’d be surprised… that Alvarado is not back with us.”

Alvarado pitched in only 28 games during the 2025 season and finished 4-2 with a 3.81 ERA. A major reason why was the fact he was suspended in May for 80 for violating MLB’s performance-enhancing drug policy. He would return in August but finish the season on the injured list due to a strained left forearm.

Alvarado slots back in as a setup man for closer Jhoan Duran. The Phillies dealt with bullpen issues as they were 20th in bullpen ERA, 24th in hits per nine, and 27th in home runs per nine. It will be interesting to see what other moves the Philadelphia Phillies make this offseason.