The Seattle Mariners are backing up the dump truck for the Huge Dumper.
The Mariners are giving catcher Cal Raleigh a six-year, $105 million contract extension, based on ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Passan says the contract begins this season and buys out the primary three years of Raleigh’s free company.
Raleigh made $795,000 final yr as a pre-arbitration participant, which suggests he needed to settle for with the staff would pay him. This yr he was set to make $5.6 million after signing a 1-year cope with the Mariners in January to keep away from arbitration. His new contract will supersede the earlier 1-year deal and maintain him below contract by 2030. Raleigh wouldn’t be eligible free of charge company now till 2031.
Raleigh has been a slugger for the Mariners over the previous three seasons. Although he solely batted .220 final yr, he whacked 34 residence runs and drove in 100 whereas posting a .748 OPS. Raleigh completed 18th in AL MVP voting in 2023 and twelfth in AL MVP voting final season. He additionally received the Gold Glove final yr, which was his first such honor.
His defensive play has been gaining an increasing number of notoriety. He has gone 9/9 on challenges in spring coaching this yr.