Wandy Peralta will not opt out of Padres deal

Veteran reliever Wandy Peralta will forgo the opt-out in his contract, reports Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Peralta’s four-year, $16.5MM contract contained opt-out opportunities after each season. He’s exercising a $4.45MM player option for the 2026 season and will have one final player option for the same amount next offseason.

Peralta effectively has two years and $8.9MM remaining on his contract, with an opt-out at the midway point. He might’ve had a chance to beat that in free agency on the back of a 3.14 ERA in a career-high 71 2/3 innings, but it’s far from a sure thing. The 34-year-old doesn’t exactly have age on his side, and this year’s 20.1% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate were both a fair bit worse than the league average.

Peralta still throws hard, sitting 95-96 mph with his sinker, and piles up grounders at a near-60% clip, but he’s worked primarily in low- and medium-leverage spot since signing with San Diego. He’ll stay put and once again be a heavily used piece of the Friars’ bullpen picture.

The Padres boast a deep bullpen, headlined by deadline acquisition Mason Miller. Closer Robert Suarez opted out of the remaining two years on his contract earlier today. Assuming they keep Miller in the ’pen — they’ve reportedly at least considered moving him into the rotation — he’ll be supported by Peralta, Adrian Morejon, Jeremiah Estrada and standout rookie David Morgan. The Padres will have a notable decision to make on excellent setup man Jason Adam, who is projected for a $6.8MM salary in arbitration but suffered a ruptured quadriceps tendon in September, which required season-ending surgery.