MIAMI — The Miami Marlins exercised Sandy Alcantara’s $21 million club option for 2027 on Friday, keeping their ace off the open market on a busy day of contract decisions across Major League Baseball.
Declining the option would have cost Miami a $2 million buyout. Alcantara, 31, finished 13-11 and carried a 3.87 ERA this season, his second year back from Tommy John surgery, and led the majors with 214 innings. He won the National League Cy Young Award in 2022 and is the longest-tenured player on the roster.
Right-hander Michael King went the other way. He turned down a $28 million player option and took a $5 million buyout, making him a free agent for the second offseason in a row after going 12-10 and posting a 3.21 ERA over 32 starts.
Boston passed on a $30 million option for Sonny Gray, who turns 37 next week. His 18 victories tied for most in the majors, and his ERA was 2.72. His $5 million buyout is spread over five yearly $1 million payments running through 2031.
Bo Bichette chose to stay with the New York Mets rather than opt out, keeping a $42 million salary for 2027. The 28-year-old moved mostly to third base this year and finished with a .260 average, 18 home runs and 78 runs batted in.
Fourteen more players reached the open market Friday alone, and the overall count of free agents climbed to 155 within 48 hours of the final out of the World Series. Clubs have until Monday to settle the options still pending.
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