In May, the Cubs announced they signed Anthony Rizzo to a seven-year, $41M extension (2013-2019), plus club options for 2020-2021. The deal also includes several incentives which could bring to the total value of the extension to $73M.Below is a breakdown of the extension by year.
- 2013: $0.75M
- 2014: $1.25M
- 2015: $5M
- 2016: $7M
- 2017: $7M
- 2018: $7M
- 2019: $11M
- 2020: $14.5M club option (or $2M buyout)
- 2021: $14.5 club option (or $2M buyout)
It is worth noting that this is the second time in less than a year the Cubs have signed a pre-arbitration eligible player to a long-term deal. Last August, Starlin Castro also signed a seven-year deal with guaranteed money through 2019.
With the extension, The Cubs likely saved a considerable amount of money. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post pointed out, fellow Super Two player Hunter Pence made $34.6M in his four arbitration years.
One final note. Watch for Starling Marte to become the next young, emerging player to sign a long-term deal. He has been a key factor in the Pirates hot start posting a .284/.340/.452 line through the first 44 games. Despite having less than one year of service time, the Pirates would be foolish to not look into an extension. As with Rizzo and the Cubs, the Pirates would likely save a lot of money by signing him to an extension before he becomes arbitration eligible.
Contract info courtesy of Baseball Prospectus
Comment below, like SportsNetworker on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @SportsNetworker