Phil Hughes got a very nice early Christmas gift this year.
According to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News is reporting that the Minnesota Twins and pitcher Phil Hughes have agreed to a four year contract extension.
Source: Phil Hughes has agreed to a three-year, $42 million extension with the Twins. http://t.co/XVbu2NfcOr
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 22, 2014
For Hughes, this is pretty much the cherry on top of the sundae that was 2014. He went 16-10 with a 3.52 ERA in 32 starts, setting a major-league record for the best strikeout-to-walk ratio (11.63) in history. As we all recall, Hughes was one out short of earning a $500,000 bonus for innings pitched, although it appears that Hughes took himself out of that bonus by turning down the opportunity to pitch in relief the final series of the season. While we all felt a little bad for Hughes missing out, it appears that he will be richly rewarded for years to come. He will earn $9.2 million in 2015 and 2016 per his original contract with the Twins, and that will increase to $13.2 million per season for the seasons of 2017-19.
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For the Twins, this locks up their top pitcher for the next five seasons. With this extension, the Twins now have three pitchers in their rotation signed for long-term contracts with Ricky Nolasco (signed through 2017) and new free agent pitcher Ervin Santana (through 2018). This offseason general manager Terry Ryan stressed that pitching would be the team’s primary focus and with the signing of Santana and now the extension for Hughes, it appears that the team is finally stepping up to the plate to bring and keep top talent to the mound for seasons to come.
Until next time…