Joc Pederson, who signed a two-year, $37 million contract with the Rangers at the end of 2024, is best suited for a three-year, $61.55 million sum after the contract details are announced.
First of all, the paper contract Pederson has a signing fee of $5.5 million, an annual salary of $13 million in 2025, $18.5 million in 2026, and a mutual option worth $18.5 million in 2027. In addition, Pederson also has no-trade powers, allowing him to fulfill his contract with the Rangers in peace.
It's worth mentioning that Pederson has the right to get out of his contract and return to free agency after the 2025 World Series, but the Rangers can also use the $37 million salary in 2026 and 2027 as a counter.
This is reminiscent of last year's postseason news that Yankees Cy Young pitcher Gerrit Cole could get out of contract after the postseason, and the Yankees could retaliate by adding $36 million worth of 10 years to his nine-year contract. But then Cole didn't break out of the contract.
Going back to Pederson's contract, if he wins the Silver Bat Award in the 2025 season or is named to the No. 1 or No. 2 major league team of the year, his annual salary in 2026 and 2027 will automatically increase by $3 million to $21.5 million each.
That said, if Pederson wins the Silver Bat Award or is named to the No. 1 or No. 2 major league teams, plus the Rangers run out of their 2026 and 2027 contracts, the contract value will come to $61.5 million.
And that's not counting the $50,000 for the Silver Bar award in the incentive clause, so there's a chance to bring the total to $61.55 million. As for the rest of the incentive clause, the league's Player of the Year award is $1.5 million, the All-Star Game and World Series MVP are each $100,000, and the league championship MVP is $50,000 along with the Silver Baseball award.
Finally, since Pederson was made a qualifying offer by the team when he played for the Giants in 2022, and on the premise that he can only have one qualifying offer in his career as a major league player, if Pederson chooses to jump out of his contract after the 2025 World Series, the Rangers will only be able to watch him return to free agency without any compensation if he does not execute his contract for two years at a time.