Paul Sewald Landing Spots: 3 top teams for 35-year-old pitcher after Tigers decline $10M club option

Paul Sewald’s offseason began with a reminder of how quickly the reliever market turns: one year you’re a playoff weapon, the next you’re looking for a new home after a club option gets declined.

The Tigers declined his $10 million club option, a move driven more by payroll than any real loss of confidence, but it puts Sewald back in a familiar spot, the short-term veteran reliever who has to earn his role again.

His 2025 season was uneven by his standards. There were stretches where the fastball and slider still played and others where the command slipped, leading to more damage late in the year than he’s used to giving up.

With the market thin on reliable right-handed bullpen arms, he becomes a classic one-year, incentive-friendly target. Three teams line up naturally with what he brings right now.

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#1. New York Mets

The Mets don’t have the luxury of gambling on untested arms in the late innings anymore. Sewald gives them something they’ve lacked: a veteran who can take the seventh, eighth or ninth without the moment getting louder than the pitcher.

His history with high-leverage assignments makes him particularly attractive to a club trying to stabilize the bridge to Edwin Diaz.

Citi Field’s size would help reduce the home-run risk that crept into his September and the Mets’ willingness to use defined bullpen roles plays to Sewald’s strengths. A one-year deal with incentives feels like a clean match for both sides.

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#2. Los Angeles Dodgers

If there’s an org built to smooth out a rough patch without overhauling a pitcher’s identity, it’s the Dodgers.

Sewald’s blueprint is still intact; elevated fastballs, chase slider, fearless sequencing and L.A.’s pitch-design department has a long track record of polishing veterans into reliable arms.

Dodger Stadium also gives him a margin for error he didn’t always enjoy last season. He wouldn’t need to be its closer; he’d be another trusted piece in a bullpen that thrives on versatility and depth.

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#3. San Francisco Giants

San Francisco’s bullpen has lacked a clear pecking order for two seasons, and Sewald’s presence would immediately give the group structure.

His temperament suits Oracle Park: calm, methodical and capable of navigating tough pockets of the lineup without leaning solely on velocity. The Giants value relievers who can work both matchup sequences and full innings, and Sewald has done both across playoff runs.

With a rotation still in flux, they need someone who can provide reliable leverage innings while younger arms develop. A short-term, option-friendly deal would give the Giants the stability they’ve been chasing since its last postseason push.

Edited by Shubham Soni