Baseball
Kyle Freeland signs with the Rockies for five years
(Denver) Pitcher Kyle Freeland has signed a five-year, $64.5 million contract with the Colorado Rockies.
In doing so, Denver-born Freeland and the Rocky Mountains will avoid an arbitration hearing scheduled for May 24.
In a statement, Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt said the team and Freeland began negotiations a long time ago. He also said that he was happy to have reached this agreement.
A left-handed pitcher who will celebrate his 29th birthdayand birthday on May 14, Freeland will receive 7 million this season, 10.5 million in 2023, 15 million in 2024, and 16 million in each of the following two campaigns.
The contract includes an optional conditional clause of 17 million at the player’s discretion in view of 2027. Freeland will be able to take advantage of it if he accumulates 170 or more entries in the pile in 2026.
Additionally, if Freeland finishes in the top 5 of the Cy Young Trophy in any season between 2022 and 2024, he will have the option to terminate his contract at the end of the 2024 season and become a self-employed player.
Freeland asked the Rockies to increase his salary from $5,025,000 to $7.8 million. The team offered him $6,425,000.
He could have become a free agent at the end of the 2023 season.
The Freeland deal is the most lucrative for a Rocky Mountain pitcher since Mike Hampton agreed to an eight-year, $121 million deal ahead of the 2001 season.
Freeland is 0-2 with a 10.00 ERA in two games this season. In six major league campaigns, his overall record is 40-42 with an ERA of 4.28.
In 2018, he finished fourth in the Cy Young Trophy standings, recording a 17-7 record and an ERA of 2.85.
There are still 22 players likely to attend an arbitration hearing between April 26 and June 24.
Usually, arbitration hearings take place during the month of February. They were delayed because of the lockdown happening in Major League Baseball.
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Source: lapresse
I am a sports writer and journalist who has written for various online publications including Sportish. I’m originally from the UK but currently live in Toronto, Canada. I’m also an author on Sportish and have written several articles on a variety of sports-related topics.