Astros sign Yordan to 6-year, $115M extension
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HOUSTON -- The Astros have signed left-handed slugger Yordan Alvarez to a six-year contract extension that covers the 2023-28 seasons, the team announced on Monday.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a source told MLB.com on Friday that it is worth $115 million. Along with a $5 million signing bonus, Alvarez will receive $7 million next season, $10 million in 2024, $15 million in '25 and $26 million each year from 2026-28.
The deal is the latest in a series of long-term contracts handed out by Astros owner Jim Crane, including second baseman Jose Altuve (five years, $151 million in March 2018), third baseman Alex Bregman (five years, $100 million in March 2019) and pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (five years, $85 million last March). The Astros were unable to keep their 2017 World Series core together, though, losing George Springer in free agency after the 2020 season and Carlos Correa last year.
The Astros tried to re-sign outfielder Kyle Tucker earlier this spring but were unable to come to a deal and no longer engaged in talks, sources told MLB.com. Tucker, like Alvarez, will become arbitration-eligible for the first time after this season.
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The Alvarez deal locks up one of the most promising young sluggers in the game. Alvarez, 24, was named the AL Rookie of the Year in 2019, hitting .313 with 27 homers and 78 RBIs in 87 games to set a Major League record for OPS (1.067) as a rookie.
After missing most of the 2020 season following a pair of knee surgeries, Alvarez hit .277 with 33 homers and 104 RBIs in his first full season in the big leagues last year. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2021 AL Championship Series, hitting .522 with a homer and six RBIs against the Red Sox.
Entering Friday’s game against the Royals, Alvarez ranked in the AL second in homers (14), fifth in slugging (.574), sixth in OPS (.941) and total bases (93) and eighth in RBIs (31). He crushed a pair of homers Monday in Oakland that traveled a combined 913 feet and had a three-run double in the ninth inning to complete a comeback win against the A’s on Wednesday.
The Astros acquired Alvarez in what may soon rival the 1990 Jeff Bagwell-Larry Andersen trade as one of the most lopsided deals in club history. Houston got Alvarez from the Dodgers on Aug. 1, 2016, in exchange for relief pitcher Josh Fields. Alvarez made his professional debut later that year in the Dominican Summer League.