Rockies, Davis agree to 3-year, $52M deal

Not long after landing Bryan Shaw and re-signing Jake McGee, the Colorado Rockies added another huge piece to their bullpen, agreeing Friday to a three-year deal with All-Star closer Wade Davis. The contract is reportedly worth $52 million, a source told Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

With an average annual value of $17.3 million, Davis' new deal - which includes a vesting option for 2021 - boasts the highest per-year salary for a reliever in MLB history. His fourth-year option vests as a $15-million player option with 30 games finished in 2020, and otherwise turns into a mutual option with a $1-million buyout.

Davis, who turned 32 in September, enjoyed another superb season in 2017 after getting traded to Chicago last winter, managing a career-high 32 saves while crafting a 2.30 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over 59 appearances with the Cubs. He earned his third consecutive All-Star appearance, too, and the 6-foot-5 right-hander has now accrued more WAR (7.4) since the start of 2014 than every reliever in the majors except Kenley Jansen, Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman, and Craig Kimbrel.

In November, Davis rejected a one-year qualifying offer from the Cubs, consequently forcing the Rockies to forfeit their third-highest pick in the 2018 draft to sign him.

Now, the Rockies are poised to field one of the game's top bullpens in 2018, with Davis and Shaw joining a group that - anchored by free agent Greg Holland - finished sixth in WAR (6.4), third in both shutdowns (150) and win probability added (8.83), and tied for second in inherited-runner strand rate (75 percent) last season.

Rockies projected 2018 bullpen