The Seattle Mariners officially signed American League Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray to a five-year contract on Tuesday.
Multiple outlets first reported the deal on Monday. The contract is widely being reported as a $115 million deal with an opt-out after three seasons.
“Adding our league’s reigning Cy Young Award winner is exciting,” Seattle director of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said in a team statement. “He’s a high character person, as well as one of the preeminent strikeout pitchers in the game. Robbie brings real presence to the front of our rotation.”
Ray, 30, was 13-7 with a league-low 2.84 ERA in 32 starts for the Blue Jays last season. In 193 1/3 innings, he struck out a major-league-best 248 en route to winning his first career Cy Young Award.
Ray had signed a one-year, $8 million free agent deal with Toronto prior to the 2021 season. Because he turned down a qualifying offer from the Blue Jays, the Mariners must send their third-highest 2022 draft pick to Toronto.
The Mariners have not made the playoffs since 2001, but they are coming off a 90-win season — the franchise’s first in 18 years.
“I can’t wait to get started here in Seattle. I’m here to win,” Ray said in the Mariners’ statement. “There’s something special going on here with the team coming off a 90-win season, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
The Mariners will be the fourth major league team for Ray, who made a brief debut with the Detroit Tigers (2014) before spending five-plus seasons with Arizona. The Diamondbacks traded him to the Blue Jays in August 2020 along with cash for left-hander Travis Bergen.
In 193 career games (189 starts), Ray has a 62-58 record with a 4.00 ERA. He averages 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings, the highest rate in major league history among pitchers with a minimum of 1,000 innings.
–Field Level Media