Slugger Yordan Álvarez and the Houston Astros agreed to a six-year, $115 million contract extension, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal will begin next season and buys out three of Álvarez’s free-agent years, sources said.
It represents the biggest contract ever for a player whose primary position is designated hitter and guarantees him $26 million a year for the free-agent seasons, according to sources. The deal is the fifth largest for a player who has yet to reach arbitration, behind Fernando Tatis Jr.’s 14-year, $340 million contract, Wander Franco‘s 11-year, $182 million extension, Buster Posey‘s eight-year, $159 million deal and Mike Trout‘s six-year, $144.5 million agreement.
A unanimous Rookie of the Year Award winner in 2019, Álvarez played in just two games in 2020 as he underwent surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon in his right knee, along with arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
After a 2021 regular season in which he had career bests of 33 home runs and 104 RBIs, Álvarez, 24, followed that up with a stellar postseason. He was named ALCS MVP after going 12-for-23, including a 4-for-4 performance in the series-clinching Game 6 that sent the Astros past the Boston Red Sox and into the World Series.
This past offseason, Álvarez’s contract was renewed by Houston, raising his salary from $609,000 to $764,600. The deal was negotiated by Dan Lozano of MVP Sports Group.
Álvarez, who serves as Houston’s designated hitter and plays left field, enters Friday tied for third in the majors with 14 homers and has driven in 31 runs.