Another former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher finally found a new home for the 2025 MLB season as Nick Pivetta had landed with the San Diego Padres in recent days. However, it didn’t come without great effort, at least from the Padres’ side when assembling what turned out to be quite the complex contract, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
Pivetta ultimately got paid by signing a four-year, $55 million deal with San Diego that included two opt-outs, according to Passan. Those options come after year two and year three of the contract. On top of that, Pivetta gets a $3 million signing bonus, along with the following breakdown in salary: just $1 million in 2025, then $19 million in 2026, $14 million in 2027 and $18 million in 2028.
Nick Pivetta’s deal with the Padres has opt-outs after Year 2 and Year 3. The deal will pay him a $3 million signing bonus and $1 million salary in 2025, $19 million in 2026, $14 million in 2027 and $18 million in 2028.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 13, 2025
Ex-Phillies pitcher Nick Pivetta bets on himself with quirky Padres contract
That sure is a bizarrely quirky contract that Pivetta ended up signing with the Padres. With just $1 million guaranteed in the first year of his contract, coupled with the pair of opt-outs, it looks like the 32-year-old veteran is betting heavily on himself that a huge performance in the first couple of seasons could allow him to opt out, and net a bigger, massive multi-year deal with a new team to lead into his retirement. And if he doesn’t manage to impress, at least he has secured a solid payday for his subsequent seasons with San Diego.
No doubt it has created a win-win situation for Pivetta. Just another interesting thing of note is why the salary dips in year three and goes back up in year four, as normally one would see the salary gradually increase or decline over the term of a contract. Perhaps it is to give him an incentive to perform well in the latter parts of his contract.
Pivetta may have struggled for the bulk of his tenure during his four seasons with the Phillies from 2017 to 2020. However, he has since developed into a reliable, middle- to back-end of the rotation starter in recent years with the Boston Red Sox. Pivetta is coming off a typical season in 2024 in which he posted a 4.14 ERA and 1.13 WHIP, along with 172 strikeouts in 145 2/3 innings pitched over 27 games played.
By finding a new home with the Padres, Pivetta joins a perennial contender that could potentially get in the way of the Phillies’ quest for the World Series. Nevertheless, Philadelphia will be more than ready to face their former teammate on a more frequent basis once again. The Phillies will look to continue their mastery over Pivetta, having scored eight earned runs on 10 hits over eight innings in the two games against him in their matchup history.