Joc Pederson Declines Mutual Option With Rangers

Designated hitter Joc Pederson is back on the open market. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reports that Pederson has declined his end of an $18.5MM mutual option with the Rangers. He is now a free agent.

As with all mutual option decisions, this is essentially a procedural move. It’s been more than a decade since any of these were exercised by both parties. They’re generally a way for the team to delay paying a portion of the guaranteed contract in the form of a buyout, which isn’t due until the end of the season. They’re essentially an unofficial deferral within the contract term.

Pederson’s option was a little bit different, as there’s no buyout. It was effectively put into place as a method for the Rangers to override Pederson’s ability to opt out of his two-year contract last offseason. If he’d opted out, the Rangers could preemptively trigger the 2027 mutual option and retain him for 2026-27. It ended up being a moot point, as Pederson slogged through a miserable ’25 campaign and never considered walking away from this year’s $18.5MM salary.

He finds himself in a quite different situation this time around. Pederson had a much better second season in Arlington, ranking second on the team with 26 home runs. He was their primary leadoff hitter against right-handed pitching and batted .245/.338/.496 across 396 plate appearances with the platoon advantage.

Pederson has never hit left-handed pitching. He offers very little defensive utility, playing a total of 71 innings between first base (63) and right field (eight) this year. It’s a limited profile, but Pederson is generally among the 30 or 40 best hitters in MLB against right-handed pitching. He’ll have a limited number of free agent suitors but should be able to command another eight-figure contract.

His old team in Arizona could use a DH and is looking to improve against righties. Texas will presumably have some interest in bringing him back. The Pirates, Padres, Blue Jays and Orioles all got lackluster production out of the DH spot. The Reds were the worst offensive team in MLB against right-handed pitching and are unlikely to re-sign Eugenio Suárez. This is one of three mutual option decisions for Texas, who’ll also see Kyle Higashioka and Jakob Junis hit the market in the next few days.