Nailed It: Phillies pick up José Alvarado’s club option

Welp, just like a told everyone last week, the Philadelphia Phillies have officially picked up Jose Alvarado’s club option, bringing the lefty reliever back for the 2026 MLB season.

Phillies pick up club option on José Alvarado for the 2026 season.

The Phillies have exercised the club option on left-handed pitcher José Alvarado for the 2026 season.

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) November 5, 2025

Again, I don’t really like this but it was a no-brainer. I hold a mean grudge and I’m a spiteful asshole. I thought it was weird that Phillies fans were so quick to forgive José Alvarado after his disastrous 2025 season.

We’re talking an 80-game PED suspension, a forearm injury, and zero postseason availability for a bullpen that desperately needed him. Jose Alvarado, intentional or not, disappeared when the Phillies needed him most.

Of course there’s a million other reasons why the Phillies fell short again in the NLDS but you’d be a fool to not direct a good portion of that frustration at Alvarado.

The problem however, was that this organization really couldn’t use last year as their reason to not bring him back in 2026. It would have been one of the dumbest decisions ever if they did.

With all the faults within the organization, it was always hard to believe that the Phillies, under any circumstance, would allow a left handed reliever who regularly hits 100 mph on the radar gun walk away to save $9 million.

Turns out, they did not, so for the weirdos who gave this man a standing ovation, congratulations, your unwarranted love affair with Alvarado will continue.

The José Alvarado Experience

Jose Alvarado has been chaos in cleats since the day he showed up from Tampa Bay back in 2020. Some nights he looks like the most unhittable pitcher on the planet. Other nights, he looks like he’s throwing a baseball into a hurricane.

Can’t argue the fact that when he is right, he’s the kind of weapon that wins baseball games, no matter the month. From 2022 to 2023, Jose Alvarado was one of the most dominant relievers in all of Major League Baseball. He posted a 1.74 ERA, 14.3 K/9, and hitters looking like they’d never seen a sinker move before.

Alvarado was the guy Rob Thomson trusted when everything was on the line. Then 2024 happened, and it all went sideways. His strikeout rate dropped, the walks climbed back up, and the command vanished.

The 2025 suspension just poured gasoline on the fire, obviously, but there’s no denying the raw stuff from Alvarado. His fastball velocity sat in the 99th percentile this year. He’s 30 and even with the PED weight loss, he’s built like a defensive end. When his mechanics are right, he’s almost impossible to square up.

The Phillies did not let Jose Alvarado walk

Really, it’s all because the market stinks in the first place. Left-handed relievers are basically gold in MLB right now, and the free-agent class isn’t inspiring. You’ve got Hoby Milner (35), Danny Coulombe (36), and Brooks Raley (38).

They look like nice guys, I guess. Probably all solid pros too. Those three can’t make opposing hitters miss bats like Jose Alvarado and honestly, they aren’t even close.

Spotrac had Jose Alvarado at around $11.5 million. They knew how valuable an arm like Alvarado is and guess what? That number was significantly higher than what the Phillies paid him to stick around for another year.

I like to think I’m a baseball savant but at the end of the day, when you look at the market and the money behind it, this was the easiest prediction I have probably ever made.

Book It: The Phillies will pick up José Alvarado’s club option

There was literally zero risk in bringing him back. We’re talking a short-term, high-upside bet on a guy who’s proven he can dominate when healthy. The Phillies are going to pay Jose Alvarado $9 million to see if the 2023 version of him still exists. If he gives you even league-average numbers, that’s a win.

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