With the deadline to make options decisions – team, and player, and mutual, and opt-outs – coming in just a few days, we can expect to see them trickling in from here.
For example, a few notable (if unsurprising) ones dropped this afternoon. First, Rhys Hoskins is coming back to the Brewers for another year:
Hoskins, 31, signed one of those deals that would’ve allowed him to hit free agency again for a big score if he’d had one of his typical pre-injury-level seasons. Unfortunately for him, he hit just .214/.303/.419/100 wRC+, while splitting time between DH and below-average-defense first base. He was worth 0.1 WAR. Not the kind of platform year that gets you more than one-year and $18 million.
The Brewers, for their part, will just have to hope that, another year removed from the knee surgery, Hoskins can break back out for them. He did hit 26 homers this season, so there was power available if nothing else.
Equally unsurprising, the White Sox are moving on from oft-injured, too-frequently-disappointing third baseman Yoan Moncada:
Moncada, 29, hit .254/.332/.425/107 wRC+ over his time with the White Sox, which would look pretty good if it were paired with consistent health (it was not) or exceptional defense at third base (closer to mixed). Worse, Moncada hit just .236/.291/.387/88 wRC+ over the last three seasons, managing just 208 games total in those three years and 2.2 WAR.
Because of his age and previous success, you could imagine Moncada being relatively well sought after among the buy-low, no-risk positional types. Which is not to say he’ll be paid well. If he gets a big league deal, it’ll be very cheap. A rebuilding club might take a shot.
Finally, the Mariners declined the option on switch-hitting infielder Jorge Polanco:
Polanco, 31, had a $12 million team option that would’ve seemed like a great deal just last year. But after an offseason trade from the Twins, Polanco hit just .213/.296/.355/92 wRC+ for the Mariners in 2024. The switch-hitting 2B/3B will be a bounce-back target for a number of teams (he hit .255/.333/.462/120 wRC+ from 2021-23), possibly as an everyday player at a set position, or possibly as a very good utility/bench option for a number of competitive teams.
I tend to think the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner insurance will come in-house (i.e., if he’s not ready to go on Opening Day from his forearm surgery), but Polanco is at least a little interesting.