Chicago White Sox sign Yasmani Grandal with 4-year, $73mln-contract

Yasmani Grandal, catcher of the Milwaukee Brewers /VCG Photo

The Chicago White Sox signed a four-year, 73-million-U.S.-dollar contract with free-agent catcher Yasmani Grandal, confirmed the team on Thursday on Twitter. According to ESPN, it sets a new franchise record for total money.

The new deal will pay Grandal 18.25 million U.S. dollars per year and contains full no-trade protection in 2020 plus limited no-trade protection from 2021-23.

"He's such a quality guy. And for him to understand our messaging, our goals, our path, and to say, 'I want to be a part of that and I'm going to commit to it early so we can move on to the next thing heading into the winter meetings,' (it) just shows what kind of character we're talking about," said Ken Williams, White Sox president.

Ken Williams, president of the Chicago White Sox /VCG Photo

Having craved to land Grandal for a long time, the White Sox reached out to his agent right after the 2019 World Series. Last week, the team's head office met Grandal in Arizona to further discuss about the details of the contract.

"My family and I are very excited and honored to be a part of the Chicago White Sox organization. I loved their professionalism, preparation and vision towards the future. I want to thank them for allowing me to be a part of this process moving forward," said Grandal at the press conference on Thursday.

Last summer, Grandal turned down a four-year, 60-million-U.S.-dollar offer from the New York Mets before he found himself become a commodity no longer in demand. In the end, he had to accept a one-year, 18.25-million short deal from the Milwaukee Brewers.

Yasmani Grandal of the Milwaukee Brewers hits a two run home run during the first inning in the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, October 1, 2019. /VCG Photo

Grandal did not waste the season. He hit career highs in home runs (28) and RBIs (77) and led the Majors catchers in OBP (.380). Having played more games (153) than other catchers, Grandal was second in extra-base hits (56), total bases (240) and RBIs. Such outstanding performance also brought him to his second All-Star Game.

The 2019 season was the White Sox's seventh straight season with more losses than wins but the team began to show some encouraging signs. 26-year-old shortstop Tim Anderson became the American League batting champion; 24-year-old Yoan Moncada slashed .315 /.367 /.548 in his second season; rookie Eloy Jimenez hit 31 home runs in his first 122 games.

"There's a lot of young talent. The way I looked at it, this team could be a dark horse in the next year or so," said Grandal.