The 2026-27 MLB offseason is only four days old and already the hot stove moves and rumors are coming in. Here are our top 50 free agents and top 25 trade candidates, and here are the important offseason dates and deadlines you need to know. Here now are Sunday's hot stove happenings.
San Diego's top two starters are now free agents. Two days after Michael King exercised an opt-out clause to become a free agent, the Padres declined their $14 million club option on Nick Pivetta, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. Had the Padres picked up the option, Pivetta would have held an $18 million player option for 2028.
That surely factored into the team's decision. Pivetta, 34 in February, missed roughly five months with a flexor strain this past season. He returned late in the season and pitched reasonably well in six starts spanning September and the postseason.
The San Diego Union-Tribune notes the Padres still have concerns about Pivetta's elbow, but could re-sign him to a new contract with a lower salary and/or no player option. San Diego signed Pivetta to what amounted to a two-year, $23 million contact with two players options in February 2025. The flexor strain triggered an injury clause that converted the 2027 player option into a club option.
We ranked Pivetta as the offseason's 43rd-best free agent. As expected, the Orioles have declined their $20 million club option for center fielder Luis Robert Jr., reports ESPN. They will pay him a $2 million buyout, so it was functionally an $18 million decision.
Robert suffered a hamstring injury and played only three games with the O's after being claimed off waivers from the Mets in late September. Now 29, Robert again had multiple stints on the injured list this past season. He continued to punish lefties and play solid center field defense when healthy, but injuries have limited him to only 271 of 489 possible regular-season games from 2024-26.
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