Diamondbacks, Young agree to extension
UPDATE (4-8-08; 5:43 PM): Young’s extension is worth $28 million over five years. Part of it will be paid in way of a $1 million signing bonus attached to this year’s salary. The team option is worth $11.5 million with a $1.5 million buyout.
The breakdown of his contract will look like this:
2008 - $1 million signing bonus
2009 - $1.75 million
2010 - $3.25 million
2011 - $5 million
2012 - $7 million
2013 - $8.5 million
2014 - $11.5 million option ($1.5 million buyout)
When comparing this to the deal Tulowitzki signed, Young is actually getting more per season than the Rockies shortstop. Young’s new contract will average $5.6 million per year, while Tulowitzi’s contract averaged out to $5.17 annually.
UPDATE (4-7-08; 2:40 PM): Young has agreed to a five year extension with the club that is expected to be announced tomorrow. The extension will start with the 2009 season and buy out all of his arbitration years. It includes a team option for a sixth year, which would be his first year of free agency.
His deal is expected to be close to the six-year, $31 million deal that Tulowitzki signed this off-season, however, with one less year guaranteed it would be surprising to see it rival the $31 million. Tulowitzki’s deal averages out to $5.17 million per year, which may be a better comparison for the two contracts.
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The Diamondbacks and center fielder Chris Young are “closing in on a long-term contract,” according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Piecoro believes the deal could be announced sometime this week.
The details of the deal haven’t been released, but it’s believed that Young’s new contract could be relatively similar to the six-year, $30 million contract signed earlier this year by Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies.
If the deal is, in fact, for six years, the Diamondbacks will have bought out all of Young’s arbitration years plus a year of free agency. It could potentially buy out more of Young’s free agency if it includes an option for a seventh year like Tulowitzki’s deal.
Filed under: Arizona Diamondbacks, Chris Young