Phillies exercise option on lefty Jose Alvarado

The Philadelphia Phillies announced they have picked up the club option on left-handed pitcher Jose Alvarado. The reliever will make $9M next season.

Alvarado signed a three-year, $22M extension ahead of the 2023 season. The $9M club option for 2026 included a $500K buyout, though it didn’t seem likely that Philadelphia would go that route. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said as much a couple of weeks back. Alvarado’s performance over the past few seasons would’ve made him one of the most enticing lefty relievers on the market. The Phillies will retain him at a relative bargain.

Alvarado and his 99 mph sinker posted solid results this past season. He had a strong 28.1% strikeout rate while showcasing impressive control. Alvarado’s 6.1% walk rate was the best of his career. It was his first year under 11% since his MLB debut with Tampa Bay in 2017. Alvarado’s 2.96 xFIP and 2.87 SIERA suggest he performed better than his 3.81 ERA would suggest. Perhaps the only factor that would bring picking up his team option into question was an 80-game PED suspension handed down in mid-May. Alvarado returned to the club for eight appearances before going down with a forearm strain. He was ineligible for the postseason due to the suspension, though he may not have been available anyway due to the injury.

Philadelphia acquired Alvarado via trade in December 2020. The three-team deal sent fellow lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger from the Phillies to the Dodgers. Alvarado pitched to a 4.20 ERA in his first year with the team, with an untenable 18.7% walk rate leading to uneven results. He got the command in check the following season, while his strikeout rate exploded. Alvarado punched out 37.9% of hitters in 2022, the best mark of his career to date. A career-worst .340 batting average on balls in play pushed his ERA to 3.18, but 2.37 SIERA was more representative of his dominance that season.