One of the best pitchers in the American League East will be sticking around for at least one more season than expected.
Tampa Bay Rays ace Tyler Glasnow has agreed to terms on a two-year extension according to Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin. He was previously due to become a free agent after the 2023 season but will now call Tropicana Field home through 2024.
The deal is quite unique in structure, as Glasnow will receive $5.35 million in his first year of the deal and $25 million in the second according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
It’s interesting to note how the Rays essentially structured the contract as if he stayed in arbitration through 2023 and then got paid market value for a free agent of his caliber in 2024. The deal keeps a huge piece of the Rays’ core intact and allows Glasnow to receive some insurance on his injured arm.
Glasnow missed most of the 2021 season (made 12 starts) and the entire 2022 season to this point after receiving Tommy John surgery, which he swears occurred when Major League Baseball forced pitchers to stop using sticky substances to enhance performance.
The news broke just hours after Julio Rodriguez’s jaw-dropping extension with the Seattle Mariners on what has become a big day for transactions.