Mark Reynolds Signs Contract With Arizona

Slugging third-baseman Mark Reynolds has signed a deal with Arizona which covers his three arbitration years, and will pay him $14.5m over the next three seasons. Reynolds recently had his 2010 contract renewed for $500K, but will now also get a $1m signing bonus, with salaries of $5m next season and $7.5m in 2012. The team gets a club option of $11m for 2013 - there's a $500K buyout.

While not an 'extension' as such - it only covers the years for which Reynolds was already under Arizona control - it gives the team cost-certainty. Reynolds would have been arbitration-eligible after this season, and if he repeats last year's output (44 homers, 102 RBI) going forward, it would certainly mean a significant increase in his salary. For Reynolds, it's a nice, guaranteed payday, and a welcome one given that he was only a 16th-round draft pick in 2004. This also suggests that Reynolds' strikeouts, which led the Majors in both 2008 and 2009, aren't perceived as being too much of a problem in the big picture.

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