Sportsnet.ca – The Toronto Blue Jays and all-star right fielder Alex Rios are close to agreeing to a six-year contract extension in the $65 million range according to Sportsnet baseball analyst Ken Rosenthal.
Rosenthal reported on Foxsports.com that the deal, which would run until 2014, would also include an option for 2015 that could push the total value of the deal to $80 million.
Rios just signed a one-year deal with the Jays for $4.8 million.
If the deal goes through, it would be a dramatic reversal from Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi’s intentions over the winter. Then, Ricciardi had talks with the San Francisco Giants about swapping Rios for one of pitchers Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum before the Giants balked.
In response to the report, Blue Jays president and CEO Paul Godfrey was on the FAN590 Bullpen Tuesday morning and said that “we’re intent on signing Alex for a long term deal that would take him through the last two years of arbitration, but to say that it’s on the verge of being done today or tomorrow is just not factual. [But] the deal is getting closer.”
Rios, an All-Star in each of the past two seasons, established career-highs last season with 24 homers, 85 RBIs, 17 stolen bases and a .354 on-base percentage. His home run totals have risen from one to 10 to 17 to 24 in his four major-league seasons.
