Seattle Mariners fans love Julio Rodriguez – and the feeling clearly is mutual.
One day after signing a unique and massive contract extension, Rodriguez spoke to the media on Saturday with several teammates and coaches seated in the back of the room.
Rodriguez’s contract is a $209.3 million, 12-year deal that starts next season, but it could be worth $469.6 million over 17 years if he wins two MVP awards.
The contract includes seven seasons, a five-year player option, an eight-year club option with award escalators and the possibility the option could extend to 10 years.
"This is not about the contract and how long it is. I would love to be a Mariner for the rest of my career and playing for the Mariners fans," Rodriguez said. "I'd love to be here for the rest of my career, play with a lot of these guys here and be managed by Scott (Servais), have Ty (France) as my babysitter. I genuinely mean that. I love being here.
"It feels very cool to just drive around the city and see (number) 44 jerseys. It really touched my heart because as I said, I come from a place, Loma de Cabrera, 20,000 people, and there was more people in the stands yesterday than was in my hometown. So it feels pretty special to me.''
Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto explained how the complicated contract took shape.
''We started with something that looked very basic, and came out with something that looked like hieroglyphics," he said. "But again, the uniqueness of trying to capture what Julio has a chance to achieve in his career, and to be fair with him about what that could look like in the end was a challenge.''
The contract also includes a full no-trade clause. Some of the escalators tied to the deal and MVP voting were suggestions from Rodriguez's side, and betting on his continued increase in production.
''The very first conversation set the tone,'' Rodriguez's representative Ulises Cabrera said, describing the development of the deal. "If we are going to look at this in the typical lens, that is not going to work.
"So there's going to be points probably in this conversation that what I say won't make sense, and what you say won't make sense, either. But we're going to have to just be comfortable with that because, right now, we're kind of starting something that we don't have any blueprint to point to.''