Padres decline Nick Pivetta’s $14 million 2027 team option as Wandy Peralta returns via player option

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

The San Diego Padres have declined their $14 million team option on veteran right-handed starter Nick Pivetta for the 2027 season, a source told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell, while left-handed reliever Wandy Peralta exercised his $4.45 million player option to return to San Diego next season. The Padres have not confirmed either transaction, but if finalized, the decisions would make Pivetta a free agent and lock in Peralta for another year as San Diego reshapes a rotation that has been impacted by multiple departures and injury realities.

Pivetta will enter the 2027 season in his age-34 campaign. According to the source’s account, his 2026 workload with the Padres was limited to eight starts due to a right elbow flexor strain that sidelined him for nearly five months on the injured list. That placement triggered a clause in his contract that converted his 2027 player option into a team option, which is now reported to have been declined.

In the timeline leading up to the injury, Pivetta exited his fourth start of the 2026 season on April 12 against the Colorado Rockies. After that exit, he did not return to the mound for the Padres until Sept. 7. The source reports that he was strong in the final month of the regular season, making four starts and posting a 1.45 ERA over 18 2/3 innings.

Pivetta’s postseason involvement came after the late-season return. The source states that he made two postseason starts for San Diego, allowing three runs on eight hits with two walks and eight strikeouts across 7 2/3 innings spanning the National League Wild Card Series against the Chicago Cubs and the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Those outings were part of the final games of the Padres’ season, even as his overall availability during 2026 was constrained.

The 2026 season is described as Pivetta’s second with San Diego. Before joining the Padres, he spent the first three of his 10 Major League seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, then was dealt to the Boston Red Sox during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. With Boston, he pitched through the 2024 season before signing a four-year, $55 million contract to join San Diego.

That contract’s structure included player-option years that were initially set for 2027 and 2028, the source notes, with $32 million of the overall value attributed to those player option periods. The elbow injury and the related contract clause are central to why a 2027 team option became the controlling decision point for San Diego.

The reported injury history could influence how the Padres evaluated Pivetta’s 2027 outlook. The source says the right elbow flexor strain that affected him in 2026 followed a similar issue that caused him to miss time with the Red Sox in 2024. At the same time, the source also notes that the club has expressed interest in re-signing him this offseason, even though the option decision would still leave his immediate status tied to whether a new agreement is reached.

While Pivetta’s reported change in status would open a spot among San Diego’s options at the top of the rotation, the club is also dealing with other offseason roster movement. The source reports that another veteran starter, Michael King, opted out of his San Diego contract earlier in the week and chose to enter free agency. King had been the Padres’ best starter in 2026, according to the source’s description.

Alongside King, the source identifies additional free-agent possibilities from last season’s starting staff, including Casey Mize, Robbie Ray and Walker Buehler. With those expected openings and Pivetta’s reported team-option decline, the source describes San Diego’s rotation for 2027 as likely having several vacancies.

The uncertainty extends beyond the rotation when considering Yu Darvish’s baseball future. The source says Darvish’s situation remains unclear, leaving the Padres with limited confirmed returnees in the starting pitching group. The source lists Joe Musgrove, who returned from Tommy John surgery and appeared in the playoffs, and Randy Vásquez as the main returning rotation options for 2027.

Against that broader backdrop, the reported Peralta decision provides one piece of roster continuity for San Diego’s bullpen. The source states that the 35-year-old Peralta exercised his $4.45 million player option after pitching primarily out of the bullpen in his third season with the Padres. In 2026, the source reports Peralta posted a 3.61 ERA over 65 appearances, including five starts.

Peralta’s contract with San Diego originally began prior to the 2024 campaign, the source says, on a four-year deal that included player options for 2026 and 2027. With the reported option exercise, he would remain under team control at the reported salary level while San Diego works through its broader offseason rotation and personnel questions.

Taken together, the reported combination of declining Pivetta’s $14 million 2027 team option and retaining Peralta through the $4.45 million player option would leave the Padres with at least one confirmed bullpen continuity piece but potentially increased competition and uncertainty among their starting pitching plans. Until San Diego provides official confirmation, the league remains limited to the reported terms attributed to a source, along with the documented 2026 injury and performance context described in the account.