Astros sign World Series hero Christian Javier to 5-year, $64 million extension
The last time Christian Javier walked off the mound for the Houston Astros, it was in the middle of a combined no-hitter in the World Series.
For that performance and many other reasons, the Astros have signed the right-hander to a five-year extension, the club announced Friday. Per MLB.com, the contract is worth $64 million total.
Javier's reign continues.#Ready2Reign pic.twitter.com/XIvRJSmkH1
— Houston Astros (@astros) February 10, 2023
The extension covers three seasons of team control for the Astros, who are essentially guaranteeing their young pitcher $64 million in exchange for two potentially lucrative years of free agency. Javier will be 30 years old by the end of the deal.
Javier is coming off the third season of his MLB career, which has so far seen him post a 3.05 ERA and 378 strikeouts in 304.1 regular-season innings while moving between the rotation and bullpen. He has been even more impressive in the postseason, with a 2.20 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 32.2 innings.
His peak came in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series, which the Astros entered down 2-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies and in dire need of a win. The 25-year-old responded with six innings of no-hit ball, the foundation of the second no-hitter in the history of the Fall Classic. The Astros went onto win the series 4-2, the first championship of Javier's career.
This extension is the first major move by new Astros general manager Dana Brown, who praised the pitcher as a foundational, long-term piece for the organization.
From the Astros:
"Cristian is an outstanding pitcher, so we are really excited about signing him to a long-term deal," Brown said. "We felt that he is the perfect candidate for this type of deal as a core piece of our rotation. This is in line with our vision to try to lock players up to sustain our success both now and in the future."
Alongside Framber Valdez, José Urquidy and Luis Garcia, Javier is part of the Astros' recent wave of young pitching that figures to have the team contending for the World Series even after the departures of Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander.
The team signaled it wanted to make a significant change when it dropped general manager James Click in favor of Brown, a well-regarded scouting mind, after winning a championship, but it clearly wants to keep a good thing going.
