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June 3 (UPI) -- The Houston Astros are signing star slugger Yordan Alvarez to a massive contract extension. League sources told ESPN, MLB Media and the Houston Chronicle on Friday that Alvarez agreed to a six-year, $115 million extension with the Astros. According to ESPN, the deal will begin next season and buys out three of Alvarez's free-agent years.
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It represents the largest contract extension ever for a player whose primary position is designated hitter and guarantees him $26 million per year for the free-agent seasons, according to the outlets.
In addition to a $5 million signing bonus, Alvarez will earn $7 million next season, $10 million in 2024, $15 million in 2025 and $26 million each year from 2026-28.
The pact is the fifth largest for a player who has yet to reach arbitration, behind only Fernando Tatis Jr.'s 14-year, $340 million deal, Wander Franco's 11-year, $182 million extension, Buster Posey's eight-year, $159 million agreement and Mike Trout's six-year, $144.5 million deal.
Alvarez, a unanimous American League Rookie of the Year Award winner in 2019, played in just two games during the 2020 campaign before having arthroscopic surgery on both of his knees.
The 24-year-old Alvarez returned in 2021 and appeared in 144 regular-season games for the Astros. He compiled a .277 batting average with career highs in home runs (33) and RBIs (104).
He followed that up with a stellar postseason in which he was named American League Championship Series MVP after going 12-for-23 -- including a 4-for-4 effort in the series-clinching Game 6 that pushed Houston past the Boston Red Sox and into the 2021 World Series.
Alvarez, who also plays left field for the Astros, entered Friday tied for third in the majors with 14 home runs.
