Bagwell Gets Huge Extension
HOUSTON (AP) Jeff Bagwell, the Astros' greatest hitter, agreed Tuesday to an $85 million, five-year contract extension through 2006.
The deal, which includes a $7 million buyout of a club option for 2007, averages $17 million, matching Toronto first baseman Carlos Delgado for the third-highest in baseball behind Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez ($25.2 million) and Boston outfielder Manny Ramirez ($20 million).
Bagwell, 32, gets $6.5 million next year in the final season of his current contract. Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr. had called signing Bagwell the team's top priority.
Bagwell, the 1994 NL Most Valuable Player, holds team records for career home runs (310) and RBIs (1,093) while hitting .305.
He was a minor-league third baseman when he arrived in a 1990 trading-deadline deal with the Boston Red Sox, who received veteran reliever Larry Andersen. He quickly was moved to first base, where he has played ever since.
Bagwell, a Boston native who lives in Houston, hit a career-high 47 homers, drove in 132 runs and scored a club-record 152 times, the most since Lou Gehrig scored 167 in 1936.
Bagwell said moves the Astros made in the offseason helped fuel his desire to negotiate a long-term contract.
"I talked about them showing me some things that could make us a better club," he told Houston television station KRIV. "They might not be blockbuster deals; writers and people may say we really didn't do anything. I think we improved our club a lot."
A trade with Detroit brought catcher Brad Ausmus and relievers Doug Brocail and Nelson Cruz to the Astros. The team also signed free agent reliever Mike Jackson.
"We made ourselves a better club and so that part of my equation has kind of been settled," Bagwell said. "I see us going in a positive direction."
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