Zach Eflin Hits Free Agency After Orioles Decline Mutual Option

Zach Eflin is officially a free agent after the Baltimore Orioles declined his $25 million mutual option for 2027, with the right-hander appearing on the MLB Players Association's latest list of players whose options have been resolved. Eflin will pocket a $2 million buyout as he heads back to the open market. The Orioles re-signed Eflin last winter to a one-year deal with a $10 million guarantee, broken down as a $3 million signing bonus, a $5 million salary and the $2 million buyout attached to the mutual option. The option price was more than twice the guarantee, a structure that always suggested it was never really intended to be picked up, merely delaying the final payment until this week. Eflin's season never got going. He was pulled in the fourth inning of his first start with elbow discomfort and underwent Tommy John surgery in early April, spending the remainder of the season on the 60-day injured list. He will likely be rehabilitating into the middle of the 2027 season, so he will not be any club's first choice this winter, but he said earlier this month he is open to returning to Baltimore, and the Orioles remain a plausible landing spot once he is healthy.