Left-hander James Paxton returns to the Seattle Mariners after a second season full of injuries to the New York Yankees.
Paxton and the sailors agree to a $ 8.5 million one-year deal, sources told Jeff Passan of ESPN on Saturday. The contract includes affordable bonuses, which could lead to its value of up to $ 10 million, sources said.
Paxton, 32, was 41-26 years old with an ERA of 3.42 for sailors from 2013 to 2018, eliminating 617 and going 168 in halves of 582⅓. He was traded to the Yankees in November 2018 for top potential, left-hander Justus Sheffield, alongside Dom Thompson-Williams and right-hander Erik Swanson.
The sailors expressed hope when Paxton was replaced that a meeting with the local from Ladner, British Columbia, could take place in the future.
Paxton fought in the first half of his first season in New York, rediscovered his breaking ball in the second half and went 15-6 with an ERA of 3.82. He won the top 10 consecutive starts in his career before leaving his last regular season after a half on September 27, 2019.
The Yankees said they have tight left gluteus muscle and came back to go 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA in three postseason starts, allowing five runs in 13 innings. But he needed surgery in February 2020, when Dr. Andrew Dossett of Dallas performed a microscopic lumbar discectomy to repair a herniated disc and remove a peridiscal cyst.
Paxton managed to start the season on time, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a delay until the end of July, but went only 2-3 with an ERA of 6.64 in five starts. He did not throw after August 20, after suffering what the Yankees said was a low-grade strain in his left forearm flexor.
The Yankees let Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and JA Happ go free agents, replacing them with Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon.
Paxton was a fan favorite during his first stint in Seattle. His best seasons came in 2017 and 2018, when he won a 23-11 combined with an ERA 3.40 and threw the only one without career hits in May 2018 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Paxton’s figures will join a rotation originally designed to include Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Sheffield and Justin Dunn. At the end of third place in the Western American League at 27-33, Seattle previously added golf as Chris Flexen, accepting a two-year contract of $ 4.75 million.
Seattle is expected to use a six-man rotation, which will likely eliminate about five starts from each pitcher in the rotation. Paxton’s addition will likely move Nick Margevicius to a bullpen role.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.