BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pittsburgh Pirates and All-Star centerfielder Andrew McCutchen agreed on Tuesday to a six-year, $51.5 million deal.
McCutchen, 25, is now under contract with the Pirates through the 2017 season, and there’s a club option for 2018.
Though he hit just .259 in 2011, McCutchen posted career highs in home runs (23) and RBI (89) and stole 23 bases. He would have been eligible to become a free agent following the 2015 season.
The Pirates drafted McCutchen with the 11th overall pick in the 2005 amateur draft. He made his major league debut in 2009 and is a career .276 hitter.
Guillen retires after 14 major league seasons
PEORIA, ARIZ. — Infielder Carlos Guillen, a three-time All-Star who played 14 major league seasons, announced his retirement Tuesday. He was at the Seattle Mariners’ spring training camp as a non-roster invitee.
Last season, Guillen hit .232 in 28 games with the Detroit Tigers. But he was on the disabled list from March 30 to July 16 while recovering from microfracture surgery on his left knee and from Aug. 14 to Sept. 1 because of a sore left wrist.
Guillen, 36, hit .344 in 19 postseason games and .353 in the 2006 World Series with the Tigers.
Around the majors
METS: New York ace Johan Santana pitched two scoreless innings against St. Louis on Tuesday in his first game facing major league hitters in 18 months. Santana gave up one hit and one walk. He threw 29 pitches, 17 for strikes. The two-time Cy Young winner last pitched to big-league hitters Sept. 2, 2010, in a game against Atlanta. Two weeks later, he underwent surgery on his left shoulder.
This time last year, Santana was working toward a potential return in June, but the Mets shut him down in August after he pitched just five innings with the Class A St. Lucie Mets.
INDIANS: Cleveland right-hander Chris Perez, sidelined with a left oblique strain, played catch in his first baseball activity since being hurt Feb 24. The All-Star closer made 45 throws from 60 feet.
YANKEES: New York right-hander Hiroki Kuroda will make his spring training debut with the Yankees on Wednesday against Tampa Bay. Kuroda signed a one-year, $10 million deal in the offseason.
BREWERS: Milwaukee outfielder Corey Hart underwent surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee. He will be sidelined three to four weeks.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.