The 41-year-old Hammer of God is returning to the Bronx for two more seasons and didn't even demand a raise. Mariano Rivera re-signed with the Yankees for two-years, $30 million which is right in line with the $15 million he made each of the past three seasons. Jon Heyman tweeted late last night that the Angels and Red Sox were offering three years and more money but Rivera decided to stay at home with the Yankees until his arm falls off. Which doesn't look like will happen any time soon. Rivera broke into the majors in 1995 and joined the ranks of great Yankees relievers like Josias Manzanillo and Mélido Turpen Gross Pérez. Unlike Manzanillo though, Rivera survived the '90s with both testicles. Too soon? Jeez, wear a cup.Kinda painted myself into a corner there. It's hard to segue from a testicle reference. So anyway, Boston actually just offered the same two-year, $30 million contract that the Yanks did. It makes some sense since they don't trust Jonathan Papelbon and could have non-tendered him if they stole Mo away from their arch nemesis. Instead they had to tender Paps and will end up having to pay him somewhere between $11-13 million anyway.
The Angels were more of a curious case. Obviously the back-end of their bullpen is shaky at best with Fernando Rodney trying to hit the strike zone blindfolded in save situations. But I can't imagine them being serious about allocating $15 million to Rivera when they'll likely have to go over $100 million for Carl Crawford and rumoredly have their eyes on Adrian Beltre. Plus they could get Rafael Soriano for less than $15 mil per but he carries a big durability risk.
By locking up Rivera, New York ends up signing their most important and productive free agent to a reasonable deal (for a rich team) and keeps him a lifetime Yankee. I'm glad that story is behind us and didn't drag out all winter.
Obligatory Mariano Rivera Stat
Rivera has a 0.71 ERA in 139.2 post season innings. He's surrendered two post season home runs. Yikes. I'm almost willing to call that clutch. Almost.
