Left-handed James Paxton is returning to the Seattle Mariners after a second season full of injuries with the New York Yankees.
Paxton and the Mariners agree on a $ 8.5 million one-year deal, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Saturday. The contract includes affordable bonuses that could raise its value to $ 10 million, the sources said.
Paxton, 32, was 41-26 with an ERA of 3.42 for the Mariners from 2013 to 2018, eliminating 617 and walking 168 out of 582⅓ entries. It was negotiated with the Yankees in November 2018 by a potential customer, the left-handed Justus Sheffield, along with outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams and right-handed Erik Swanson.
The Mariners held out hope when Paxton was negotiated that there might be a meeting in the future with the Ladner native in British Columbia.
Paxton fought in the first half of his first season in New York, rediscovered his ball in the second half and went 15-6 with an ERA of 3.82. He won the 10 best consecutive matches of his career before leaving his final regular season start after an entry on September 27, 2019.
The Yankees said he had a tense left gluteal muscle, and he made it 1-0 again with an ERA of 3.46 in three postseason matches, allowing for five runs in 13 starts. But he needed surgery in February 2020, when Dr. Andrew Dossett in Dallas performed a microscopic lumbar discectomy to repair a herniated disc and remove a peridiscal cyst.
Paxton managed to start the season in time when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a delay until the end of July, but he was only 2-3 with an ERA of 6.64 in five matches. He did not shoot after August 20, after suffering what the Yankees said was a slight strain on the flexor of his left forearm.
The Yankees let Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and JA Happ leave as 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 was a 23-11 combo with a 3.40 ERA and released the only hit-back of his career in May 2018 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Paxton plans to join a rotation initially designed to include Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Sheffield and Justin Dunn. Coming from third place in the American West League on 27-33, Seattle previously added right-handed free-agent Chris Flexen, agreeing to a $ 4.75 million two-year contract.
Seattle is expected to use a six-man rotation, which would likely take about five starts from each pitcher in the rotation. The addition of Paxton will likely move Nick Margevicius into a bullpen role.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.