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The official announcement should hit sometime today, but word broke out on Twitter last night that Mariners shortstop Jean Segura was close to signing an 5 year contract extension valued at $70 million per Hector Gomez and Jon Morosi.
Can confirm Jean Segura’s extension with #Mariners will guarantee $70 million over 5 years, as @hgomez27 first reported. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 7, 2017
This is obviously pretty fantastic news, as the Mariners finally have a player who can provide a huge amount of offensive value from a premium infield position while playing serviceable defense. Segura also gives the lineup stability as a very reliable lead off hitter.
Segura is currently on the disabled list nursing a high ankle sprain from a rough slide into second base last week. In spite of 2 short DL stints so far in 2017, Segura is still the current leader in batting average in the American League at .341, along with the rest of his very tasty slash line of .391 OBP and .462 SLG. He’s played in over 140 games in each of his four full seasons in the MLB and while he may fall just short of that this year, he is once again playing at an All-Star pace, and through 198 PAs this year he’s on pace to be between a 5-6 fWAR player.
We’ll be posting updates throughout the day as this all gets confirmed by the Mariners.
Update, 8:50 AM:
Heyman says:
Segura gets a full no-trade
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 7, 2017
Still a fantastic deal, but the reduced numbers make a bit more sense now. In the event that the Mariners go full rebuild in the next few years, Segura could likely be convinced to waive the NTC to play for a competitor, but it will somewhat limit his value. However, if Segura continues to perform and the Mariners continue to have reason to keep him (and they certainly don’t have shortstops behind him in the farm system beating down the door to replace him), this remains an extremely team-friendly deal.
UPDATE, 10:30 AM: Club has officially confirmed, although not the money side, because they were raised not to discuss finances with strangers.
Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto on the contract extension for shortstop @Jeansegura02: pic.twitter.com/iyHA4xAamh
— Mariners (@Mariners) June 7, 2017
Segura made it Instagram-official, as well:
In his caption he thanks Robinson Cano for supporting him and his family and for lifting him up when he was down: “We will be forever grateful to you.” Canó responds by telling him he wants his cash in a bag—no check, please. Love youuuuu guys.