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Jays, Delgado Raise The Bar

October 20, 2000 / 2:10 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The Toronto Blue Jays and Carlos Delgado shook up baseball's salary structure Friday, agreeing to a record $68 million, four-year contract that makes him the sport's highest-paid player.

The Blue Jays called a news conference for Friday to announce the contract, which will average $17 million per season. The deal was confirmed to The Associated Press by Delgado's agent, David Sloane.

Delgado gets a $4.8 million signing bonus and salaries of $10 million in 2001, $17.2 million in 2002, $17.5 million in 2003 and $18.5 million in 2004.

None of the money is deferred, and Delgado gets a complete no-trade clause.

"These Blue Jays are going to become what the Blue Jays of 1992 and '93 were," Sloane said by telephone from Toronto.

The average salary of $17 million breaks the previous mark of $15.45 million set by Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees earlier this year when they agreed to what amounts to a two-year extension worth $30.9 million.

Delgado's deal falls short of the record for total dollars, set in December 1998 when Kevin Brown and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a $105 million, seven-year contract,

Delgado's mark is not likely to last long. Seattle shortstop Alex Rodriguez is eligible for free agency following the World Series and is expected to get a record deal that could be worth $20 million or more.

Delgado, 28, hit .344 this season with 41 homers, 137 RBIs and 123 walks, finishing fourth in the American League in batting, tied for fourth in home runs and tied for fourth in RBIs.

In 1999, he batted .272 with 44 homers and 134 RBIs, and the Blue Jays rewarded him with a $36 million, three-year contract that called for a $3 million signing bonus and salaries of $5.6 million in 2000, $12.65 million in 2001 and $14.75 million in 2002.

But the deal also contained a unique provision, giving Delgado the right to demand a trade in the 10 days following the World Series. If he had exercised that right and the Blue Jays had failed to deal him, he would have had the right to become a free agent next Feb. 15.

Paul Godfrey, the Blue Jays' new chairman, began negotiating the deal with Sloane in August.

"He's going to restore the Blue Jays to what they were," Sloane said. The Blue Jays last made the playoffs in 1993, when they won the World Series.

The timing of the announcement was discussed with the commissioner's office, according to one baseball official who spoke on condition of anonymity, and irked some because it would take attention away from Game 1 of the World Series on Saturday night between the Mets and the Yankees.