All month the assumption has been that the Twins would either sign Kurt Suzuki to a contract extension or trade the 30-year-old impending free agent in the middle of his career-year.
Minutes after the trade deadline passed Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that Minnesota has indeed signed the All-Star catcher to an extension, with Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports saying it’s a two-year deal with a vesting option for 2017.
Signed for $2.75 million this offseason, Suzuki made his first All-Star team on the way to hitting .304 with a .753 OPS in 89 games. Of course, the reason he was available so cheaply is that Suzuki hit just .237 with a .650 OPS in 477 games from 2010-2013.
UPDATE: Suzuki will get $6 million in both 2015 and 2016 and the 2017 vesting option is for the same amount, so the money is certainly reasonable enough, but for better or worse extending a 30-year-old player in the midst of a career-year instead of cashing him in for prospects is a very Twins-style move.
