Jean Segura becomes free agent as Phillies decline option

Following his first exposure to postseason baseball, Jean Segura is set to become a free agent.

The Phillies declined their $17 million team option on the veteran infielder, the club announced Monday night, allowing him to hit the open market when free agency begins on Friday. Segura will receive a $1 million buyout.

The team also announced that it picked up its 2023 option on right-hander Aaron Nola and that right-hander Zach Eflin declined his end of a mutual option for next year.

The Phillies have exercised the club option on RHP Aaron Nola for the 2023 season. Additionally, the Phillies have declined the club option on INF Jean Segura. Finally, RHP Zach Eflin declined his side of the mutual option and is now a free agent.

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) November 8, 2022

Segura, 32, had bounced around between four teams after entering majors in 2012 before being traded to Philadelphia ahead of the 2019 season. Since then, he had been a fixture in the Phillies lineup and middle infield.

Previously the longest tenured active major-league player to never appear in the postseason, Segura was the starting second baseman for the Phillies this season as they made the playoffs for the first time since 2011. The right-handed batter hit a go-ahead, game-winning single in the ninth inning of his first career playoff game in the Wild Card Series in St. Louis, kicking off an incredible run to the National League title and a World Series appearance.

Before the Philadelphia’s loss to the Houston Astros in the Fall Classic, Segura expressed his desire to remain with the team in the future.

“I would love to finish my career in Philadelphia, and I don’t really think about that right now,” he said ahead of the World Series. “All my focus is to go into the World Series and get four more wins and hopefully get a champagne [celebration] and bring another ring to the Phillies and to the city.”

But with the Phillies coming up short, now is the time for Segure to focus on what’s next — whether that’s in Philadelphia or another city.

“After the season, we’ll address that,” Segura said. “If we keep moving forward, if we stay here, cool. If not, I’ll have to talk to my agents and see who wants me, what teams want Jean Segura’s services.”

A career .285/.330/.408 hitter with a solid glove at second base, Segura will almost certainly be in line for another starting opportunity in the big leagues somewhere.

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