A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels are close to finalizing a $432 million, 12-year contract that would shatter the record for the largest deal in North American sports history.
The deal was disclosed Tuesday by a person familiar with the negotiations.
Trout would top the new $330 million, 12-year contract between Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies, and his $36 million average annual value would surpass Zack Greinke’s $34.4 million in a six-year deal with Arizona that started in 2016.
Progress toward an agreement was first reported by ESPN.
Trout’s deal includes a signing bonus and would supersede the $144.5 million, six-year contract that had been set to pay him $66.5 million over the next two seasons.
SEASON OPENS IN JAPAN
Ichiro Suzuki drew the loudest ovation back home in Japan and Domingo Santana delivered the biggest hit, launching a grand slam that led the Seattle Mariners over the Oakland Athletics 9-7 Wednesday in the Major League Baseball opener.
The game at the Tokyo Dome marked the earliest opening day ever — the summer sport actually started on the last day of winter. No doubt, most fans in North America were sound asleep when Oakland’s Mike Fiers threw the first pitch at 5:36 a.m. EDT (6:36 p.m. local).
A year after the Cubs’ Ian Happ homered on the very pitch of the season, the ball again was flying.
Tim Beckham also homered as several Seattle newcomers excelled. Khris Davis, who led the majors with 48 home runs last year, Stephen Piscotty and Matt Chapman connected for the A’s.
A packed crowd of 45,787 was buzzing for its favorite star, sending cheers, chants and camera flashes for Ichiro bounding all around the park. Signs and Ichiro jerseys were plenty, too.
At 45, Ichiro became the second-oldest position player to start an opener, only a few months younger than Julio Franco was for Atlanta in 2004.
Batting ninth and playing right field, Ichiro popped up and worked a walk his two times up. After taking his defensive spot in the bottom of the fourth inning, he was pulled to another ovation, with his Mariners teammates gathering in the diamond for hugs.
Ichiro is expected to play again Thursday when the two-game series finishes, and that might be the end of a sensational pro career that began in Japan in 1992 when he was at 18.