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Report: Astros, McCullers agree to 5-year, $85M extension

Tim Bradbury / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Houston Astros have locked up a big piece of their rotation, agreeing to a five-year contract extension with right-hander Lance McCullers Jr., a source told Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston.

The deal is worth $85 million, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan. It doesn't include any option years but does contain a limited no-trade clause, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

Discussions between the sides reportedly started to gain steam Tuesday.

McCullers, who has spent his entire career with the Astros, was scheduled to become a free agent after this season. He and the team avoided arbitration in January by agreeing to a one-year, $6.5-million deal for 2021.

McCullers had a solid comeback season in 2020, posting a 3.93 ERA, 3.70 FIP, and 1.16 WHIP with 56 strikeouts across 11 regular-season starts after missing all of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The 27-year-old owns a lifetime 3.70 ERA and 1.26 WHIP with 565 strikeouts across 508 2/3 innings. An All-Star and World Series champion in 2017, he's been an important member of the Astros' rotation when healthy but hasn't always been durable; McCullers has never made more than 25 appearances or thrown more than 128 1/3 innings over a 162-game season.

McCullers looks set to become a pillar of a Houston rotation that's beginning to transition away from veterans Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander.

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