Phillies sign Jose Alvarado to 3-year contract extension
A day after signing Seranthony Dominguez to a two-year deal, the Phillies signed left-handed reliever Jose Alvarado to a three-year contract extension with a club option for 2026, the team announced Friday morning.
The Phils avoided arbitration with Alvarado by agreeing to a one-year, $3.45 million deal last week. Friday’s extension guarantees him $18.55 million in new money, a source confirmed.
Here are the new terms:
Alvarado gets $3.5 million this season with a $50,000 signing bonus added to the $3.45 million salary
He’ll earn $9 million in 2024
He’ll earn $9 million in 2025
The club option for 2026 is worth $9 million with a $500,000 buyout.
This season would have been Alvarado’s final year under contract if not for the extension. Instead, the Phillies bought out his first two years of free agency and potentially a third if they end up exercising the club option.
This situation would have been hard to predict just nine months ago when the Phillies, in Joe Girardi’s final week as manager, optioned Alvarado to Triple A on Memorial Day Weekend.
“What we’re trying to do is get him to where he’s an extremely valuable piece again,” Girardi said the day of the move.
Alvarado was back in the majors just over two weeks later and indeed became that extremely valuable piece again. From June 16 through October 3, Alvarado had a 0.98 ERA with 64 strikeouts and 12 walks in 37 innings. His opponents hit .153. He allowed an earned run in just three of his final 41 regular-season appearances.
He stood tall against the Braves in the NLDS and Padres in the NLCS, giving up just a run in 6 innings. The Phillies don’t get to the World Series without Alvarado last season. Houston was a different story, with the Astros getting to him for two runs in Game 2 and the decisive runs in Game 6.
Alvarado has been a Phillie since just before New Year’s Eve 2021. The Phils acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-team trade that saw them send pitcher Garrett Cleavinger to the Dodgers. The Phillies won that deal.
Alvarado’s sinker averaged 99.8 mph last season, the fastest in all of baseball. New teammate Gregory Soto and Dominguez were tied for fifth at 98.4, with only Jordan Hicks, Felix Bautista and Luis Garcia in between the three Phillies.
The Phils have a deep bullpen for 2023 with Alvarado, Dominguez, Soto, Craig Kimbrel, Matt Strahm, Andrew Bellatti and Connor Brogdon. Barring injury, only the eighth and final spot in the bullpen is up for grabs.
Alvardo will likely be used in various roles — setting up, closing, lefty-lefty matchups. Manager Rob Thomson won’t officially name a closer unless someone outpaces the competition and clearly seizes the job. Seven Phillies had multiple saves last season and they could approach that number again in 2023.
With Alvarado locked up, the only Phillies scheduled to hit free agency after the 2023 season (aside from one-year signings Josh Harrison and Kimbrel) are Aaron Nola and Rhys Hoskins. Nola figures to be a priority while the Hoskins situation could play out in a variety of ways.
