Outfielder Juan Soto, pitchers Walker Buehler, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried and first baseman Pete Alonso were among 136 players who became free agents Thursday.

Third baseman Alex Bregman, outfielder Anthony Santander and shortstop Willy Adames also went free.

There were 64 more players with pending option decisions who could become free agents by Monday, the fifth day after the World Series.

Teams and players can start discussing contract terms at 2:01 p.m. PST on Monday, after the deadline for teams to make $21.05 million qualifying offers to eligible free agents.

Pitcher Justin Verlander became a free agent after he failed to pitch 140 innings this year, the amount that would have triggered his ability to exercise a $35 million conditional player option. If he had exercised the option, the New York Mets would have been obligated to give an additional $17.5 million to Houston as part of last year’s trade that sent the three-time Cy Young Award winner back to the Astros.

St. Louis declined options on three right-handed pitchers, Kyle Gibson ($12 million), Lance Lynn ($10 million) and Keynan Middleton ($6 million). Each gets a $1 million buyout.

Boston pitcher Lucas Giolito exercised a $19 million player option rather than take a $1 million buyout and go free.

Milwaukee said a $12 million mutual option had been declined on pitcher Wade Miley, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery last May.

Among those with pending club options are Atlanta designated hitter Marcell Ozuna ($16 million), and Yankees third baseman Anthony Rizzo ($17 million) and reliever Luke Weaver ($2.5 million).

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole can opt out of his contract but the team can void the opt out by adding a $36 million salary for 2029.

Those with player options include pitchers Blake Snell of San Francisco ($30 million, of which $15 million would be deferred), Nick Martinez of Cincinnati ($12 million), Sean Manaea of the New York Mets ($13.5 million), Jordan Montgomery of Arizona ($22.5 million), Nathan Eovaldi of Texas ($20 million) and Michael Wacha of Kansas City ($16 million), along with Chicago Cubs first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger ($27.5 million).

Athletics owner John Fisher and his family will invest $1 billion into the construction of a stadium in Las Vegas and U.S. Bank and Goldman Sachs will offer a $300 million loan, club executive Sandy Dean said.

Dean said four letters will be presented at the Dec. 5 authority meeting asserting construction details and financing will be in place. Final approvals are expected to be made at that meeting to allow construction of the $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat domed ballpark.

Construction is expected to begin in the spring with a targeted opening before the 2028 season. As much as $380 million in public funding will go into building the stadium, which will be on the Las Vegas Strip on the site of where the recently demolished Tropicana stood.

MEDIA

Bob Costas is retiring from baseball play-by-play after 42 seasons.

Costas had done games the past couple seasons for MLB Network and TBS Sports. His final games were the American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals.

He will continue to do some work for the network on key events, including the Baseball Hall of Fame announcement.

GOLF

Hana Wakimoto of Japan shot a bogey-free 9-under 63 to lead by two shots after the first round of the LPGA’s Toto Classic in Shiga, Japan.

Jin Young Ko of South Korea was two off the pace after a 65 at Seta Golf Course. Four players carded 66s to be within three shots of Wakimoto: Linn Grant, Ayake Furue, Hyo Joo Kim, and Jenny Shin.

TENNIS

Frenchman Ugo Humbert harnessed the energy of the home crowd and produced one of his best career performances in beating Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters.

Alexander Zverev won the serving battle and silenced the raucous home crowd, beating French prospect Arthur Fils 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

He next plays 10th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas in their 16th career meeting, with Tsitsipas up 10-5.

The big-serving Greek earlier rallied to beat Francisco Cerundolo 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 to stay in contention to qualify for next month’s Finals in Turin.