Peralta Exercises $4.45M Option to Stay With Padres for 2027

Wandy Peralta is staying in San Diego. The veteran left-handed reliever has exercised his $4.45 million player option for 2027, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, choosing another season with the Padres rather than testing the free-agent market this winter. The decision continues a pattern for the 35-year-old, who signed a four-year, $16.5 million deal with San Diego in January 2024 after three seasons with the New York Yankees and has now opted in after each of the first three seasons of that contract, with this final year his last chance to do so. Peralta's 2026 campaign was a mixed bag: he posted a 3.61 ERA across 65 appearances, mostly out of the bullpen, but struggled down the stretch as his ERA climbed over the final two months, and the Padres held on to him through the August trade deadline rather than moving him. Even so, a proven left-hander with his track record and a modest price tag is a useful piece for a bullpen facing a winter of change, and San Diego's decision-makers clearly value his experience in high-leverage spots. Peralta now returns as one of the few settled names in a relief corps that will otherwise be reshaped over the coming months, giving the Padres at least one familiar arm to call on when the 2027 season begins.