The New York Yankees are bringing back Anthony Rizzo on a two-year, $34 million deal with a $17 million club option in the third year that includes a $6 million buyout.
Rizzo hit 32 homers and had 75 RBIs in 130 games despite a .224 batting average in his first full season as a Yankee, Rizzo opted out of the second year of the two-year, $32 million deal he signed during the spring and rejected the team’s qualifying offer worth $19.65 million.
Photo courtsey of USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Astros were reportedly targeting Rizzo. He spent many years with the Cubs, a key part of the club’s core that broke the 108-year curse by winning the 2016 World Series. From 2014 to 2019, he was remarkably consistent and productive, hitting between 27 and 32 home runs in each of those six years.
Rizzo is the only current Yankee to have won a championship and the Yankees valued that experience. The Yankees are trying to keep Rizzo and and Aaron Judge together after the duo helped lead their lineup. Rizzo was the second-best hitter in the lineup, behind only Judge.
Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo is returning on a two-year, $34-million deal. Photo courtsey of J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images
