SEATTLE, Wash. -- The Seattle Mariners officially signed superstar catcher Cal Raleigh to a new six-year contract on Wednesday. The deal, which was reported to be close on Tuesday, buys out the three years of arbitration and three free agent years.
Raleigh's deal is worth $105 million guaranteed and keeps him in Seattle through 2030. There's also a vesting option that could add a seventh year and take the deal into the $120 million range.
As the deal was announced on Wednesday, Raleigh had a statement in a team-issued press release that is sure to get fans to run through a wall:
“This place has always felt like home since I arrived here in Seattle. They took me in from day one with kindness and respect and it is one of the top places to play in professional sports,” Cal Raleigh said. “I wanted to stay here because of the connection with the people of the Pacific Northwest and the Seattle Mariners, but I know it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to. I feel blessed that the Mariners gave me this opportunity and I can’t think of a better place in MLB to call home. We have a great nucleus of players here and aren’t far off from bringing the World Series to Seattle. It won’t be easy but I believe ownership and management share the same vision and commitment. I won’t stop working and I won’t stop grinding until this city gets what it deserves, and that is a perennial playoff team and a World Series Championship.”
Built for Seattle. Staying in Seattle.
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) March 27, 2025
We’ve signed Cal Raleigh to a six-year contract extension through 2030, with a vesting player option for 2031. #TridentsUp
https://t.co/CaGU58y2U5 pic.twitter.com/9gbrtfWtxc
For a fan base that has never experienced even getting to the World Series, that's exactly what they want to hear.
Raleigh put together an incredible year in 2024, leading the M's with 34 homers and driving in 100 runs. He also excelled defensively, sheparding the best starting staff in baseball and winning the Gold and Platinum Glove Awards.
The Mariners will open the regular season on Thursday night against the Athletics at T-Mobile Park. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. PT. Raleigh is expected to catch and bat third, and he is assured to receive an extremely loud ovation from the crowd.
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To say that the Boston Red Sox are keeping MLB fans and analysts on their toes this season is an understatement. Almost two months after trading the face of their franchise, Boston signed MLB’s No. 1 prospect, Roman Anthony, to an eight-year, $130 million extension. Between trading Rafael Devers and locking Anthony up through 2034, the Red Sox have been the boldest MLB team this season by far. But will this move pay off? Fans expected Sox owner John Henry to spend money on the team during the offseason, but no one anticipated a massive mid-year pact with a rookie would occur. Anthony has only played 46 MLB games, during which he has slashed .283/.400/.428 with 19 RBIs and two home runs. While his rapid ascent through the minor league and hot start to his professional baseball career are beyond what fans could’ve asked for, Anthony’s extension is still premature from a financial perspective. With a $16.25 million AAV on his contract, the Sox have piled high expectations onto a player who recently turned 21 years old. For Anthony’s sizable and long-term commitment to be worth the investment, he should produce an annual 2.0 WAR at least and earn at least three or four All-Star, Gold Glove or Silver Slugger Awards by the end of his contract. For reference, Marcell Ozuna and Kyle Tucker received contracts within $250,000 AAV of Anthony’s contract AAV, according to Spotrac. All three achieved this criterion before they were rewarded with lucrative agreements. Weighing these standards against Anthony’s newness to MLB, it’s nearly impossible to say Boston’s decision-making was backed by more than just impulse. Somehow, Anthony isn’t the first rookie the Red Sox extended this year. With five games of baseball under his belt, Boston closed an eight-year, $60 million deal with Kristian Campbell, who was MLB’s No. 6 prospect at the time. While Campbell’s $7.5 million AAV is drastically different from Anthony’s, the Sox’s strategy to hoard young players before they’ve had enough time to prove themselves isn’t logical. Keeping Anthony off the free-agent market for the next decade may be the best risk the Sox have ever taken, or it may be one of the most expensive decisions made. Anthony must deliver the high-performance projections his contract sets for his early extension to pay off, but odds are, Boston is putting the cart before the horse.
Over the past couple of years, the WNBA has seen a major uptick in ratings and overall fan engagement. Unfortunately, that has also come with negative attention. It may have reached a new low, as there have now been three separate incidents in which a fan has thrown a sex toy on the court. This time, it nearly hit Indiana Fever veteran Sophie Cunningham during a matchup with the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday. Cunningham had already joked about it on social media, and given her outspoken nature and reputation as a bit of an instigator, she didn't shy away from it: She also laughed it up on her Instagram story: Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts, however, didn't think it was a laughing matter. Following the game, she put the fans on blast for their "stupid" behavior. "It's ridiculous. It's dumb. It's stupid," Roberts said, per Yahoo Sports. "It's also dangerous, and you know, player safety is No. 1, respecting the game, all those things. I think it's really stupid." There's no place for any of this in sports, much less in women's sports. The league needs to crack down on this and take the necessary measures to prevent it from happening ever again. The WNBA is finally thriving after years of surviving, and while the fans will eventually grow to respect the product, not all publicity is good publicity.
Kevin Love is eyeing a return to his roots. The five-time NBA All-Star big man Love has a preferred destination on the buyout market, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported on Tuesday. Love would like to end up in Los Angeles. Now 36 years old, Love spent the last two-and-a-half seasons with the Miami Heat. He averaged just 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds over 10.9 minutes per game in 2024-25 but still managed to shoot 35.8 percent from three on the year. Earlier this summer however, the Heat traded Love to the Utah Jazz as part of a three-team blockbuster deal. Now Love, a 17-year NBA veteran, is pursuing a contract buyout from the rebuilding Jazz. Though he is a native of Lake Oswego, Oregon, Love played his college ball in Los Angeles at UCLA. He also has ties to both L.A. teams — he won an NBA championship with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and was also coached on that team by Tyronn Lue, who is now head coach of the L.A. Clippers. Both the Lakers and Clippers are currently sitting at 14 guaranteed contracts each. While they still have spots for two-way and Exhibit 10 players, that means the Lakers and Clippers are both down to their final open roster spot. The ex-rebounding leader Love still has some value, though probably more so as a jokester than as a contributing rotation piece. While Love clearly wants a homecoming to Los Angeles, he may have some convincing to do for either the Lakers or the Clippers to give him that final open roster spot.
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