The following press release comes from the Minnesota Twins and Major League Baseball.
Twins restructure contract and extend Phil Hughes through 2019
Minneapolis/St. Paul – The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have agreed to terms with starting pitcher Phil Hughes on a new five-year contract extension, covering the 2015-2019 seasons. Hughes, who was originally signed to a three-year contract last winter which would have paid him $8 million in both 2015 and 2016, will now earn $9.2 million in 2015, $9.2 million in 2016, $13.2 million in 2017, $13.2 million in 2018 and $13.2 million in 2019.
Hughes, 28, went 16-10 with a 3.52 ERA (209.2 IP, 82 ER) with 16 walks and 186 strikeouts in 32 starts for the Twins last season. The right-hander set a Major League Baseball record for highest strikeout-to-walk ratio at 11.63 and became the sixth pitcher (7th time) in baseball history to reach 200.0 innings pitched and walk less than 20 batters in a single season. Hughes was the recipient of the Calvin R. Griffith Award for Most Valuable Twin and the Joseph W. Haynes Award for the Twins Pitcher of the Year.
The California native has a career record of 72-60 with a 4.32 ERA (990.1 IP, 475 ER) with 261 walks, 842 strikeouts and three complete games in 214 games (164 starts) with the Twins and New York Yankees.
“We’ve brought Phil over here after the 2013 season and everything seemed to click for both parties so that’s the reason for this extension,” Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. “He did his part and now we’re doing our part. Everything seems to be in order and Phil is in the prime of his career.”
“I think everybody would acknowledge the closer you get to free agency, the tougher it is for the parties to get together on a reasonable deal,” Ryan said. “But Phil was comfortable here. We were comfortable with him. He’s been an ideal fit for us.”
“I felt very comfortable here,” Hughes said. “I felt like this was a place where I could strive for years to come and I really wanted to be a part of this team and the direction it’s going.”
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