ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson is among the players ESPN’s Jeff Passan expects to reach free agency this winter. In an early outlook on the market published Thursday, Passan projected that every mutual option in Major League Baseball will be declined, and Pederson’s option for 2027 is worth $18.5 million.
Of the players Passan expects to reach the market through declined mutual options, he named five, and Pederson was one of them. Passan also grouped Pederson with three other veteran bats he said each offer at least one strength, in a class he wrote has only one 30-homer hitter.
Joc Pederson’s Contract, Option, And Qualifying Offer History
The Rangers announced Pederson’s two-year, $37 million contract Dec. 30, 2024. It paid him a $5.5 million signing bonus and a $13 million salary in 2025, and Pederson picked up an $18.5 million player option for this season last November. The deal also carries a no-trade clause.
Pederson cannot receive a qualifying offer this offseason. He accepted one from the San Francisco Giants after his All-Star season in 2022, and players can receive only one qualifying offer in their careers.
Last October, Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said Texas would stay under the first competitive balance tax threshold of $244 million in 2026. At the time, Pederson and catcher Kyle Higashioka were two of the six veterans whose contracts made up $149.7 million in committed 2026 salary.
Joc Pederson’s 2026 Season And Free Agency Track Record
In 133 games this season, Pederson has a .233/.328/.479 slash line with 25 home runs, 50 RBIs, and 49 walks. He has scored 55 runs and added 11 doubles and 2 triples.
His first season in Texas ended with a .181/.285/.328 line and 9 home runs over 96 games. Pederson missed 52 games after a pitch fractured his right hand May 24 against the Chicago White Sox. After he returned July 27, he batted .224/.300/.406 over the final 50 games of 2025.
The Los Angeles Dodgers drafted Pederson, now 34, in the 11th round in 2010. After the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series, Pederson left as a free agent and signed with the Chicago Cubs, who traded him to the Atlanta Braves in the middle of the 2021 season. He won a second championship with Atlanta that fall. Pederson made his second All-Star team with the Giants in 2022, then spent 2024 on a one-year deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In Arizona, Pederson hit .275/.393/.515 with 23 home runs in 132 games. Most of that production came against right-handed pitching. He posted a .923 OPS against right-handers that season and had only 42 plate appearances against left-handers.
Texas plays the finale of a three-game series at Seattle on Thursday, with first pitch at 3:10 p.m. CT. The Rangers are 72-74 and trail the Houston Astros by two games in the American League West.
