The Boston Red Sox signed All-Star closer Matt Barnes to a two-year extension on Sunday.
The deal runs through the 2023 season and includes a club option for 2024.
The extension guarantees Barnes $18.75 million, according to multiple reports. He will receive salaries of $7.25 million and $7.5 million over the first two seasons plus a $1.75 million signing bonus.
The 2024 option is worth $8 million with a buyout of $2.25 million.
Barnes is making $4.5 million this season.
Matt Barnes talks about contract extension
“This is a first class organization that treats us like family and provides a winning opportunity every single season, so I’m incredibly grateful to them and honored and humbled to be able to continue my career in Boston,” Barnes told reporters prior to Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. “I’m looking forward to many more winning seasons and World Series titles here.”
Barnes, 31, is 4-2 with a 2.68 ERA and 19 saves in 37 appearances this season. He has struck out 62 and allowed just 22 hits over 37 innings.
Matt Barnes had 15 saves in seven seasons with Boston prior to this season.
“Very proud of him,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said on Sunday. “The fact that he and the organization were able to get this done in the middle of the season with no distractions says a lot about where we’re at, it says a lot about the player that he wanted to stay with us, with this program for a few years.”
Boston chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom likes the way the 2011 first-round pick (19th overall) has blossomed.
“First of all, obviously we’ve all seen it over the past number of years, Matt has established himself as one of the better relievers in baseball,” Bloom said. “And this year he’s taken his game to a whole new level, you know, in an even bigger role. Beyond that, he’s exactly the type of person you’d want representing your organization.”
Barnes is 30-23 with a 3.94 ERA in 362 appearances (two starts) for Boston. His lowest ERA prior to this season was 3.65 in 2018.
In the 2018 World Series, Barnes threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings in three appearances as the Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
–Field Level Media