Yanks lock up LeMahieu, Kluber on deals
The New York Yankees made a pair of big moves on the free agent market, reaching a deal with righthander Corey Kluber worth $11 million for one year and agreeing to a $90 million, six-year contract to keep AL batting champion DJ LeMahieu, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because each agreement is subject to a successful physical.
Kluber, the 2014 and 2017 AL Cy Young Award winner, won 56 games for Cleveland over the 201618 seasons, then missed the rest of the 2019 season after he was hit on the right forearm that May 1 by a comebacker off the bat of Miami’s Brian Anderson. He finished 2-3 with a 5.80 ERA in seven starts.
Traded after the season to Texas, Kluber tore a muscle in his right shoulder in his Rangers debut on July 26, finishing his season after one inning. The injury did not require surgery, and he held a workout for scouts on Wednesday.
Kluber, who turns 35 on April 10, is a three-time All-Star who is 98-58 with a 3.16 ERA in 10 seasons, the first nine with the Indians.
He joins a rotation headed by Gerrit Cole that also includes Deivi Garcia, left-hander Jordan Montgomery and, at some point, Luis Severino when he returns from Tommy John surgery last Feb. 27. It is not clear whether the Yankees will re-sign Masahiro Tanaka, who became a free agent. In addition, Domingo German is expected back from a domestic violence suspension that caused him to miss last season.
LeMahieu, who turns 33 in July, became the first player to win undisputed batting titles in both leagues. He won his first AL batting title last year at .364, the highest average for an AL batting champion since Minnesota’s Joe Mauer hit .365 in 2009, after winning the NL championship with Colorado in 2016.
A three-time All-Star, LeMahieu signed a $24 million, two-year contract with the Yankees in January 2019. He had 10 homers and 27 RBIs in the shortened 2020 season after hitting .327 with 26 homers and 102 RBIs in his first season in New York.
LeMahieu started his big league career with the Chicago Cubs in 2011, then was traded to Colorado. He has a .305 average with 85 homers and 478 RBIs in 10 big league seasons, and he has won three Gold Gloves at second base.
In other team news, Aaron Judge was among the Yankees who avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year contract worth $10,175,000.
New York also reached deals with catcher Gary Sanchez ($6.35 million), first baseman Luke Voit ($4.7 million), third baseman Gio Urshela ($4.65 million), shortstop Gleyber Torres ($4 million), right-hander reliever Chad Green ($2.15 million), left-hander Jordan Montgomery ($2.13 million) and outfielder Clint Frazier ($2.1 million).
No Yankees remain eligible for arbitration.
Red Sox sign Devers: A person with knowledge of the terms says the Red Sox have agreed to a $4,575,000, one-year deal with third baseman Rafael Devers that avoided salary arbitration..
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because details have not been announced by the team.
The 24-year-old Devers had a breakout season in 2019, when he batted .311 with 32 homers and 115 RBIs, leading the majors with 54 doubles and 359 total bases and finishing 12th in the AL MVP voting.
But last year was a setback: He hit .263 while committing 14 errors at third base —the most in the majors. The next closest was 11. Devers earned $256,481 prorated of a $692,500 salary last season.
Lindor, Conforto avoid arbitration: The New York Mets agreed to one-year contracts with seven players Friday to avoid salary arbitration, including shortstop Francisco Lindor, outfielder Michael Conforto and first baseman-outfielder Dominic Smith.
Lindor will earn $22.3 million and Conforto gets $12.25 million in their final years before potentially becoming free agents, while Smith agreed to a $2.55 million deal in his first year eligible for arbitration.
Outfielder Brandon Nimmo ($4.7 million) and right-handers Edwin Diaz ($7 million), Seth Lugo ($2,925,00) and Robert Gsellman ($1.3 million) also agreed to one-year deals.