Star outfielder Julio Rodríguez is finalizing a long-term deal with the Mariners, a source told MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez on Friday. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the deal will last at least eight years (including 2022) and guarantee Rodríguez $210 million, but it can max out at 18 years and $470 million, both of which would be tops in American sports history. The club has not confirmed the deal.
Here’s a breakdown of the deal, according to Passan:
Rodríguez reached 15 homers and 20 stolen bases in 81 games, the fewest for any player to reach those marks. When he reached the 20-20 plateau, Rodríguez became just the 12th rookie in history to do so, and he was the fastest player in AL history (107 games) to achieve the feat, topping Mike Trout (112 games). If he can get to 25-25, Rodríguez would join a list of rookies that includes just Trout (2012) and Chris Young (2007).
After working through a slow start to the season, Rodríguez erupted in May and June, batting .295 with 13 home runs and 33 RBIs in 57 games across the two months en route to being named American League Rookie of the Month twice. Those honors made Rodríguez the first Mariners rookie to win multiple Rookie of the Month Awards since Ichiro Suzuki won it four times in 2001.
Rodríguez joined Ichiro on another list later in the summer when he became just the sixth rookie in franchise history to be elected to the All-Star Game and the first rookie position player since Ichiro during that historic 2001 season. Rodríguez also joined Alex Rodríguez and Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. — two of baseball’s all-time greatest players — as the only 21-year-olds in Mariners history to be selected.
Rodríguez’s standout moment among many highlights this season was his showing in the 2022 T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium, where he placed second to Juan Soto but mashed 81 homers in all, including 32 in the opening round, a new first-round record for a rookie. Rodríguez’s first-round homers reached a combined distance of 2.54 miles, by far the longest of any competitor in the opening round.
Rodríguez’s first-round output was the fourth best of any Home Run Derby round in history, trailing only Pete Alonso, Joc Pederson (39 in the second round in 2019) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (40 to beat Pederson in that same round). J-Rod later became the first hitter in history with multiple 30-homer rounds in one Derby.
“I didn’t see it coming until I got to Spring Training,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said of Rodríguez’s speed. “It was one of the first days we ran the bases as a team, early camp, and the way he’s flying around the base like, ‘Oh, my God, this is different.’ And you start seeing him move in the outfield, and his ability to close on balls.”
Shortly after the All-Star Game, Rodríguez missed two weeks with a right wrist injury that he sustained when he was hit by a pitch against the Astros, but he has since returned to help the Mariners in their quest to end a 20-year postseason drought.
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