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Report: Moustakas turned down 3-year, $45M deal from Angels

Ron Schwane / Getty Images Sport / Getty

On Thursday, Mike Moustakas joined a growing legion of players who signed deals below their expected market value this winter, agreeing to a one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals despite reportedly getting offered more earlier in the offseason.

The third baseman turned down a $45-million, three-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels, according to a report from Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star.

Moustakas, 29, and the Royals reportedly agreed to a one-year deal that would guarantee the slugger $6.5 million. A mutual option for 2019 plus performance bonuses could push the contract's value to $22.7 million.

To his credit, Scott Boras, Moustakas' agent, refuted the claims of a multi-year overture from the Angels.

A club official from the Angels later told Buster Olney of ESPN that the three-year, $45-million deal was not offered.

"There was never a multi-year contract offer made to Mike Moustakas by the Angels or any other major-league team," Boras told Mellinger on Friday.

Regardless, Moustakas and his agent still rejected the one-year, $17.4-million qualifying offer the two-time All-Star was tendered by the Royals at the beginning of winter. As a result, Moustakas is now guaranteed slightly more than one-third of that offer.

The deal, if it ever actually was tabled, would likely have been pulled back once the Angels agreed to a three-year, $38-million contract with Zack Cozart in mid-December.

Like Moustakas, a report surfaced that suggested Jonathan Lucroy also turned down a three-year deal worth $21 million with the Colorado Rockies before agreeing to a one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics, continuing an offseason in which player salaries were unexpectedly depressed.

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