It seems that every day another team locks up another young player through his arbitration years. The Rockies are joining that fun, as they have agreed on a five-year, $43 million contract with right-handed pitcher German Márquez, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The details are fuzzy right now. If the deal takes care of this season, then it would buy out all of Márquez’s arbitration years, as well as one year of free agency. If it begins in 2020, it would buy out two years of free agency. He’d either be 28 or 29 upon the conclusion of the contract.
Passan also mentions that the deal would include a club option that would turn into a mutual option if Márquez finishes in the top 3 of Cy Young voting twice. That seems to be in addition to the five years, although that’s not clear yet either.
Whatever the details, this sounds like great news. It’s also pretty fun that this is taking place while the Rockies are in Tampa Bay, the team that traded Márquez to the Rockies before the 2016 season. It’s a shame he won’t get to face Kevin Padlo when he starts tomorrow though, but that would be tough considering Padlo will start the year in Double-A.