Report: Altuve gets $151M
American League MVP Jose Altuve and the World Series champion Houston Astros agreed to a contract that guarantees the second baseman an additional $151 million over five seasons from 2020-24, according to an AP source.
Altuve has been one of the biggest bargains in baseball. The 27-year-old is earning $6 million this year under the first option exercised by Houston in a deal he agreed to in 2013 that originally guaranteed $12.5 million from 2014-17. The Astros have a 2019 option at $6.5 million. He would have been eligible for free agency after that season.
The sides are still working on structuring what portion of the additional money will be categorized as a signing bonus and what portion will be listed as salary. The average annual value of the new money is $30.2 million, among baseball’s highest.
The 5-foot-6 Altuve hit .346 last season to win his second straight AL batting title and third in four seasons. He had 24 homers, 82 RBI and 32 stolen bases . . . .
Third baseman Eugenio Suarez and the Cincinnati Reds agreed to a $66 million, seven-year contract, a deal that includes a team option for 2025 that if exercised would make the deal worth $79 million over eight years.
Cincinnati obtained Suarez from Detroit in December 2014 as part of the trade that sent right-hander Alfredo Simon to the Tigers. Suarez hit .260 last season and set career bests with 26 homers, 82 RBI and .828 OPS. He would have been eligible for free agency after the 2020 season
Soccer: Cup video reviews in
FIFA finally and fully approved video review to help referees at the World Cup. The decision came two weeks after FIFA’s rule-making panel voted to write video assistant referees (VAR) into the laws of soccer.
That landmark move still left competition organizers to opt to use video review in their games, and FIFA’s ruling committee had to sign off on the World Cup decision.
Referees can call on VAR to review and overturn “clear and obvious errors” plus “serious missed incidents” involving goals, penalty awards, red cards and mistaken identity.
In 18 months of trials worldwide, including at the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, Bundesliga and Serie A, reviews have often been slower than promised and communication has been unclear in the stadium.
NASCAR: Truex wins pole
Martin Truex Jr. has claimed the pole for the NASCAR Cup series race in Fontana, Calif., after a qualifying session in which 13 drivers didn’t complete a lap.
Truex won back-to-back poles for the first time in his career, following up his pole in Phoenix with another speedy performance. He turned a lap at 186.567 mph in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota for his 17th career pole on the weathered two miles of asphalt at Auto Club Speedway.
Kyle Busch was second in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 186.437 mph, and defending Fontana champion Kyle Larson was third.