As we've learned the last few days, the Mets' financial issues are rather significant. But they still found some cash to sign one of their own to a multiyear deal -- albeit a 36-year-old knuckleballer. R.A. Dickey on Monday avoided arbitration by signing a new two-year contract that includes a club option for 2013. He'll make at least $7.8 million, according to The Associated Press -- a $1 million signing bonus, $2.25 million this season and $4.25 million in 2012. The 2013 option is for $5 million, and the Mets can buy it out for $300,000.
That windfall caps a remarkable few months for Dickey, who wasn't called up from the minors last season until May 19 but ended up finishing seventh in the National League with a 2.84 ERA in 27 appearances (26 of them starts).
Dickey's emergence was one of the great stories of 2010 (chronicled here by FanHouse's Ed Price), with the right-hander breaking out at long last a remarkable 14 years after the Rangers made him a first-round draft pick out of the University of Tennessee. He had spent parts of seven seasons in the majors before 2010, working mostly as a reliever for the Rangers, Mariners and Twins, and compiled a 22-28 record and a 5.43 ERA along the way.
But everything clicked last season, and the Mets rewarded Dickey with the new deal.
"R.A. had a breakthrough season for our organization last year, meriting this new contract," Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said in a statement. "We expect R.A. to be a major part of our success going forward."
Later Monday, the Mets announced they had signed outfielder Angel Pagan to a one-year, $3.5 million deal, avoiding arbitration.
Former Mets general manager Steve Phillips talks about the Wilpons' struggles:
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