A little late on the blog-draw, but Rios is close to signing a long-term deal with the Jays, as Rosenthal reports. The deal is thought to start in 09, and be a 6 year 65 mil deal with a 15 mil option in 2015.
That in itself is pretty interesting, as I thought JP was only allowed to sign guys through 2010, Wells being the exception. So it's nice to see Rios get an extension beyond 2010.
Still, this is a terrific deal for the Jays. I think part of it is based on the final year of the recently signed Brad Hawpe contract, which has a 10 mil club option when he would be in his first FA year. Rios' deal adds another .8-.9 million more annually, so I'd have to think that extension by Hawpe played a part in the Rios deal. Even if it's not, it's still a terrific deal for the Jays as Rios definetly would have averaged more than 10-11 million per year as a free agent.
With this signing, Travis Snider should switch over from RF to LF in the minors ASAP. Snider is probably the LF of the future, with Lind being the 1B/DH. Hopefully Lind wins the LF job by mid-season in 2008.
Rios' best years are ahead of him, and we got him at a huge discount if and when this deal becomes official. Kudos to management for getting it done.
Twitchy.
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