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MLB General Discussion (Official Thread)

NEW YORK (AP) -- Making another move to keep their core of players together, the New York Yankees to a $70 million, seven-year contract with outfielder Aaron Hicks.

Hicks' agreement adds $64 million in guaranteed money over six seasons and club option for 2026 that could make it worth $81.5 million over eight seasons.

A 29-year-old switch-hitter, Hicks took over as the Yankees primary center fielder last year and set career highs with 137 games, 27 homers and 79 RBIs. He agreed on Jan. 11 to a $6 million, one-year contract and would have been eligible for free agency after this season.

His new, superseding deal calls for a $2 million signing bonus and keeps the $6 million salary this year. He gets $10.5 million annually from 2020-23 and $9.5 million in each of the following two seasons. The Yankees have a $12.5 million option for 2026 with a $1 million buyout.

Hicks would get a $1 million assignment bonus the first time he is traded. He receives a hotel suite on road trips.

With a $4 million increase in Hicks' average annual value this year, New York's raised its projected luxury tax payroll to about $229 million, well above the $206 million threshold and past the first surtax level. The Yankees would pay a 20 percent tax on the first $20 million above the threshold and pay at a 32 percent rate on the next $20 million.

New York didn't pay luxury tax in 2018, the first time the Yankees were under the threshold since the tax started in 2003. By falling under, the Yankees reset their tax rates, which had been 50 percent on the first $20 million over and 62 percent on the next $20 million.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/ap-source-aaron-hicks-yankees-agree-70m-7-140702395--mlb.html
 
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Arenado, Rox near record extension, source says

The Rockies and their third baseman Nolan Arenado are finalizing an eight-year contract worth $260 million, according to a report by MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal. The deal was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, and a source tells Passan that the extension includes an opt-out clause after its third season -- which would allow Arenado to hit the free-agent market at age 30 -- along with a full no-trade clause.

The club has not confirmed the extension, which would keep its superstar in Denver through 2026 and give Arenado the highest average annual salary in history.

The deal would pay Arenado an average annual salary of $32.5 million, which surpasses the $31 million average annual salary benchmark set by Miguel Cabrera’s eight-year, $248 million extension with the Tigers from 2014 and the three-year, $93 million deal that Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw signed in November.

The Rockies originally agreed to terms with Arenado in January on a $26 million salary for 2019 to avoid arbitration (a record for any arbitration-eligible player), and this new deal would replace that contract beginning this season. Arenado would have led next offseason’s free-agent class if the two sides were unable to agree on an extension.

Arenado, 27, has led the Rockies to back-to-back postseason appearances while already becoming one of the most beloved and accomplished players in franchise history. He has averaged 40 home runs and 126 RBIs over his past four seasons -- all of them being All-Star campaigns -- while winning a Gold Glove Award at third base in each of his six Major League seasons. Arenado has also finished within the top five in National League MVP voting in each of the last three years. Arenado already ranks within the Rockies’ top 10 players all-time in most major offensive categories.

https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-arre...o37rBOYpzHaRhSnPH6m1cwljRt4sr-TwuwJbN2oP6uRKg
 
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Mariners can't wait to see reaction for Ichiro in Japan

TIM BOOTH (AP Sports Writer)
The Associated PressMar 6, 2019, 10:56 PM
201903062101756615776

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 file photo, Seattle Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki bats during the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Peoria, Ariz. Jerry Dipoto's first introduction to the world of Ichiro Suzuki was only a small taste compared to what the Seattle Mariners are about to experience when they open the season in Tokyo with a pair of games against the Oakland Athletics. The most decorated player ever to export his talents from Japan to the major leagues is returning home for what could be a farewell to his Hall of Fame career on both sides of the Pacific. His teammates can't wait. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

Suzuki's one request for the hoopla that surrounded his return to the Mariners was the news conference and ensuing activities be kept, in his words, ''casual.''

''The entourage arrived, and it looked like the CIA arrival for the president. It was dark windows, suburbans, and Ichiro rolled out and he walked into my office in what I can only describe as something off the runways type of suit,'' Dipoto, the team's general manager, recalled. ''It was like a $5,000 suit that looked as crisp and clean as you can imagine. Impeccable knot in his tie with the dark sunglasses. My first reaction to him was not to shake his hand and introduce myself or the like, I slapped him in the chest and said, 'I thought we were going casual?' He said to me, and this was my intro to Ichiro, he said to me, 'To me, this is casual.'''


It will be nearly a week of celebration and hype surrounding Ichiro. And his teammates are perhaps more excited, more eager than the star himself to see how massive the reception will be.


There is no question Suzuki will be on Seattle's roster for the two games March 20-21 in Japan. He signed a minor league deal before the season, but with the intention of being on the expanded major league roster against the A's. After Japan, there have been no promises about what, if any, role Suzuki will have with the team.

This may have only heightened the anticipation for seeing what happens in Japan knowing this could be the career finale for the 45-year-old outfielder.



''It's much-needed for him. Not just being in Japan but being in your home country as who he is, and who he is respected as, he deserves it,'' Gordon said. ''I want to see him happy. I want to see how happy it makes him. I know he's going to be all professional but I actually want to see if we can get a reaction out of him. Some type of emotion.''


His future beyond these two games in Japan is cloudy. Suzuki could decide this is it, saying goodbye in front of his countrymen. He could return to Seattle and try to earn a spot on the Mariners roster. He could move into a hybrid role like the one he had last year when he started the season on the active roster due to injuries and eventually shifted into an advisory position.

While he wouldn't comment about Suzuki's future, Dipoto did give a glimpse of the scenario he would love to see come to fruition.


''He's in the lineup on opening day, and that as the flashbulbs go off, and he's at the bat, he answers with an inside-out single to left field. That's his trademark,'' Dipoto said. ''I know that Ichiro doesn't run the way he did maybe 15 years ago, but he still runs above average, shockingly, for a 45-year-old man. I would love to see him get on base and do the things that Ichiro did 15, 18 years ago and excite the crowd and engage the community there in what we're doing because I think the fact that the Mariners are going to play in this opening series in Japan, it's kind of an homage to the franchise's history with Japanese players. More so than our present attraction.

''I think this provides us with an opportunity to pay tribute to Ichiro, to his career, and to all that he's been to this franchise, and really to international baseball. It seems the right thing to do for everybody.''

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/mariners-cant-wait-see-reaction-ichiro-japan-035616960--mlb.html
 
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Tom Seaver, Hall of Fame pitcher and three-time Cy Young winner, diagnosed with dementia
Seaver has chosen to retire from public life




Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver has been diagnosed with dementia and has retired from public life, his family announced in a statement through the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Thursday.

The Seaver family announced today that Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver has recently been diagnosed with dementia. Tom will continue to work in his beloved vineyard at his California home, but has chosen to completely retire from public life. The family is deeply appreciative of those who have supported Tom throughout his career, on and off the field, and who do so now by honoring his request for privacy. We join Tom in sending warmest regards to everyone.

Seaver, 74, won three National League Cy Young Awards and 311 games during his storied, 20-year long MLB career in which he pitched for the Mets, Reds, White Sox and Red Sox. Seaver won a career-high 25 games in 1969, leading the New York Mets to their first World Series title in franchise history. The right-hander was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1992, receiving 98.8 percent of the vote.

Seaver was a 12-time All-Star and his No. 41 was retired by the Mets. Seaver's former team released a statement about his diagnosis Thursday:


https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...hUYz-opa5X2GGxvEOWGvaMvPd2-Hrh1zcYXc0qDv8dCUU
 
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