CLEARWATER, Fla. — Reliever José Alvarado and the Philadelphia Phillies agreed Friday to a $22 million, three-year contract, superseding a $3.45 million, one-year deal reached a week earlier that avoided salary arbitration.
Alvarado gets a $50,000 signing bonus and a $3.45 million salary this year, then receives $9 million in each of the following two seasons. The Phillies have a $9 million option for 2026 with a $500,000 buyout.
A 27-year-old left-hander, Alvarado would have been eligible for free agency after this season.
He went 4-2 with a 3.18 ERA and two saves in 59 relief appearances last year.
Alvarado had a 5.56 ERA in 12 postseason appearances for the NL champions, getting the win in the Game 5 pennant-clincher against San Diego. Alvarado failed to hold a one-run lead in the sixth inning of World Series Game 6, relieving Zack Wheeler with two on and giving up a long three-run homer to Houston’s Yordan Alvarez. The Astros went on to a 4-1 victory that won the title.
Alvarado's deal calls for a $100,000 bonus for winning the World Series MVP or the Mariano Rivera/Trevor Hoffman reliever of the year award, and $50,000 for finishing second or third for the reliever honor. He would get $50,000 for making the All-Star team, winning an MVP or winning a Gold Glove.
Alvarado had filed for $3.7 million and the Phillies for $3.2 million when teams and players exchanged proposed arbitration salaries last month.