The biggest domino of the Detroit Tigers’ off-season has reportedly fallen.
CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman is reporting the Tigers have re-signed designated hitter Victor Martinez to a four-year deal worth $68 million deal, pending a physical.
Martinez, 35, posted a career year this past season by hitting .335 with 32 home runs and 103 RBIs. He was named the American League’s Silver Slugger at designated hitter and finished in the top three of MVP voting.
The $68 million offer was not initially disclosed by Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, who first mentioned the news, or the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, who confirmed it, but it was a good bet that Martinez, arguably the top hitter on the free agent market, would receive a raise over his $12 million salary in 2014.
Spread evenly over four years, the contract amounts to $17 million per season and puts the Tigers on the hook for $85 million in countable salary in 2018.
The four-year contract would run through Martinez’s age 39 season.
The five-time All-Star is a career .306 hitter over 12 big-league seasons with the Tigers, Red Sox and Indians. He is lauded for his professionalism on the field and leadership in the clubhouse, and is still chasing his first World Series championship.
It appears he will continue that chase with the Tigers.
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