Yankees decline Rizzo's option, making slugger free agent
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NEW YORK -- Anthony Rizzo kept his pinstripes on longer than almost anyone else in the Yankees’ clubhouse following the club’s loss in Game 5 of the World Series, seemingly wishing to extend his tenure with the team, if only by mere minutes.
Rizzo officially became a free agent on Saturday as the Yankees declined the first baseman’s $17 million option for the 2025 season, instead paying the 35-year-old a buyout valued at $6 million. Rizzo signed a two-year, $34 million deal with New York in November 2022.
“To wear this jersey is something special that I wish every baseball player gets to feel, because it’s a different feeling, wearing this jersey,” Rizzo said after Game 5 of the World Series.
During this postseason, Rizzo had said he was a “realist,” understanding that there was a chance he was playing his final games with the club. Rizzo has also stated multiple times that he hoped to retire as a Yankee.
“I love playing here. I love being a Yankee,” Rizzo said. “I love what comes with it. I love the standard that has been set here from all the generations, the great Yankees in the past. Yeah, this could very well be [the end of his Yankees tenure]. I'm a realist. I'm not naive to it. But I think all that will shape out when the time is right.”
Playing in his third full season with the Yankees after a midseason trade from the Cubs in 2021, Rizzo was limited to 92 games due to a pair of significant injuries. He fractured his right forearm in a June collision with Red Sox pitcher Brennan Bernardino at Fenway Park, which kept him out until Sept. 1.
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Then, in the penultimate game of the regular season, Rizzo fractured two fingers on his right hand when he was hit by a pitch from the Pirates’ Ryan Borucki.
That injury forced Rizzo to miss the American League Division Series against the Royals, but he returned for the final two rounds of the postseason, providing better offensive performance than even manager Aaron Boone expected. In 10 postseason games, Rizzo collected eight hits in 30 at-bats (.267), with a double and six walks.
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“I can't even believe it, to be honest with you,” catcher Austin Wells said during the postseason. “It's a pretty incredible thing to have two broken bones in your hand and go out there and do what he's been able to do. I think it just shows how tough he is, and the character that he has.”
During the regular season, Rizzo batted .228/.301/.335 with 12 doubles, eight homers, 35 RBIs and 27 walks. The campaign followed a 2023 season in which he was limited to 99 games because of neck and elbow issues, and a concussion that ended his season in early August.
A three-time All-Star (2014-16) and four-time Gold Glove Award winner (2016, '18-20), Rizzo has said he intends to continue playing in '25.
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Over 14 seasons with the Padres (2011), Cubs (2012-21) and Yankees (2021-24), Rizzo has batted .261 with 922 runs, 338 doubles, 22 triples, 303 home runs, 965 RBIs and 781 walks in 1,727 games.
The list of free-agent first basemen also includes Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt, Rhys Hoskins and Carlos Santana.