The Yankees and Anthony Rizzo agree to meet on a two-year deal with $40 million guaranteed. That comes in the form of a $17 million salary in 2023 and 2024, followed by a $17 million club option for 2025 with a $6 million buyout.
Rizzo, 33, spent many years with the Cubs, a key part of the club’s core that broke the 108-year curse by winning the 2016 World Series. From 2014 to 2019, he was remarkably consistent and productive, hitting between 27 and 32 home runs in each of those six years. His wRC+ was always between 126 and 155, indicating he was 26% to 55% above league average at the plate. His wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs, were between 3.2 and 5.3 in each of those campaigns.
The next two seasons saw Rizzo slide a bit from those lofty heights, though he was still a solid performer. In the shortened 2020 campaign, he hit .222/.342/.414 for a wRC+ of 103. The following year, which included a midseason deal with the Yankees, he hit .248/.344/.440 and a wRC+ of 113.
Despite the slight decline, he was still above average at the plate and is generally considered a solid defender at first base. He was not eligible for a qualifying offer due to the midseason trade. He and the Yankees agreed to a deal that would keep him in the Bronx, with Rizzo making $32 million over two years, though he could opt out of the final year and his $16 million salary.
Despite dealing with various ailments throughout 2022, he ended up having a good recovery campaign. His 32 home runs matched his career high and his .224/.338/.480 batting line rose to a wRC+ of 132. Based on that strong showing, he triggered his shutout and he returned to free agency in search of a bigger deal. . There has also been speculation that the upcoming ban on aggressive defensive shifts will help him, as his left-handed bat and slow speed make him particularly vulnerable to them. The Yankees extended him a qualifying offer of $19.65 million, which he could have accepted and locked in a slight raise over his expected salary. But he appeared to have other suitors, and the Astros were a club known to have interest in him.
3:00 PM Central Time today was the deadline for players to accept or decline qualifying offers, with Rizzo among the 12 who declined, though reports surfaced soon after that he and the Yankees agreed to one more deal long Rizzo will return to his spot at first base and make $17 million per year, so very close to QO, but will actually have a slightly higher AAV thanks to the buyout. His $40 million guaranteed over two years comes out just shy of the two years and $36 million projected by MLBTR.
By getting Rizzo to put pen to paper, the Yankees have prevented a key bat from leaving in free agency. Of course, Rizzo is only the second most important player in this field, as all eyes are firmly on Aaron Judge and whether the Yanks can convince him to stay. With Rizzo’s contract on the books, the club’s 2023 payroll is now around $207 million according to the roster resource’s estimate. Last year, they opened the season at $246 million, according to Cot’s baseball contracts, leaving them about $40 million in cap space before they caught up to that difference. Of course, if they are willing to increase their spending beyond last year’s levels, they should have even more to work with.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported that Rizzo and the Yanks were coming together on a multi-year deal. SNY’s Andy Martino first relayed the two-year-plus-one-club option framework. YES Network’s Jack Curry was first on the dollars.
Image courtesy USA Today Sports.