The deal is official.

The Seattle Mariners announced in a press release Wednesday that star catcher Cal Raleigh and the club have agreed to a six-year contract extension that spans through 2030 and includes a player option for 2031.

Lefko: Cal’s commitment changes the feeling about Mariners’ future

ESPN’s Jeff Passan initially broke the news Tuesday morning that Raleigh and the Mariners were finalizing a six-year extension worth $105 million. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that the deal includes a full no-trade clause for Raleigh.

Raleigh, 28, had three years left on his initial contract.

“This place has always felt like home since I arrived here in Seattle,” Raleigh said in the team’s press release. “They took me in from day one with kindness and respect, and it is one of the top places to play in professional sports.

“I wanted to stay here because of the connection with the people of the Pacific Northwest and the Seattle Mariners, but I know it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to. I feel blessed that the Mariners gave me this opportunity, and I can’t think of a better place in MLB to call home.”

Raleigh, a 2018 third-round draft pick out of Florida State, has established himself as one of the game’s best all-around catchers since making his MLB debut in July 2021.

Raleigh led all MLB catchers in home runs for each of the past three seasons, blasting 27 homers in 2022, 30 in 2023 and a career-high 34 in 2024. He is the first catcher to lead his position in homers for three straight seasons since Hall of Famer Mike Piazza did so from 1999 to 2002.

Raleigh has been just as good behind the plate. He won the AL Platinum Glove Award this past season as the best defensive player in the league, regardless of position. He also became the first catcher in Mariners history to earn an AL Gold Glove Award.

Raleigh threw out an MLB-high 26 runners on stolen-base attempts last year, leading the majors in that category for a second straight season. He also tied for the AL lead with 16 defensive runs saved, caught an MLB-high 1,122 innings, led all AL catchers with a 5.4 FanGraphs WAR and was the backstop for a starting rotation that posted an MLB-best 3.38 ERA.

And of course, Raleigh delivered one of the most iconic moments in Mariners history with his walk-off homer in 2022 that clinched the franchise’s first playoff berth in 21 years.

“Cal has meant a lot to this organization since his time of being here, and the home run is just a small part of that,” Mariners manager and former longtime catcher Dan Wilson said prior to the team’s workout on Wednesday. “All that he has accomplished both with the bat and behind the plate is outstanding.

“And to have a guy that plays as much as Cal, that puts in the work that Cal does, that wants to get better, a guy that wants to be a leader – you put all that together and you’ve got an exceptional ballplayer.”

Raleigh and the Mariners open their 2025 season on Thursday night against the Athletics. After falling just short of the playoffs each of the past two seasons, the M’s are looking to break through this year.

“We have a great nucleus of players here and aren’t far off from bringing the World Series to Seattle,” Raleigh said in the team’s release. “It won’t be easy, but I believe ownership and management share the same vision and commitment.

“I won’t stop working and I won’t stop grinding until this city gets what it deserves, and that is a perennial playoff team and a World Series championship.”

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The Seattle Seahawks traded quarterback Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders and inked former Minnesota Vikings signal caller Sam Darnold to a three-year contract reportedly in order to both get younger at the position and to save money.

There’s no debating that that Seahawks got younger under center by making the swap, and now the terms of the Darnold contract have been made public, allowing the debate about how much cap space may or may not have been saved in the coming years to begin.

Without wasting time, here is what the contract includes:

• 2025: Base salary: $5.3M, Signing bonus: $32M, Workout bonus: $200k, Other bonus: $1.5M
• 2026: Base salary: $27.5M, Workout bonus: $200k
• 2027: Base salary: $35.5M, Workout bonus: $200k
• 2028: Void year added for cap purposes
• 2029: Void year added for cap purposes

Of course, what fans want is to know how much cap space that structure will use, so here are the cap numbers by season

• 2025: $13.4M ($5.3M base salary, $6.4M signing bonus proration, $1.5M other bonus, $200k workout bonus)
• 2026: $34.1M ($27.5M base salary, $6.4M signing bonus proration, $200k workout bonus)
• 2027: $42.1M ($35.5M base salary, $6.4M signing bonus proration, $200k workout bonus)
• 2028: $12.8M ($6.4M signing bonus proration, $6.4M 2029 signing bonus proration which accelerates into 2028 upon contract voiding)

As has already been reported, $17.5M of Darnold’s 2026 base salary will vest into fully guaranteed on the Friday after the Super Bowl in 2026, which is the normal guarantee vesting structure the Hawks have used on their big contracts for the past decade. This means that Seattle can get out of the deal after two years should they so with, and it will have cost the team $66.7M, of which $19.2M would be the dead money charge recognized against the cap in 2027.

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Nazem Kadri scored his second goal of the game 3:58 into overtime, sending the Calgary Flames to a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.

Calgary Flames 4, Seattle Kraken 3 (OT): Box score

Adam Klapka and Rasmus Andersson also scored for the Flames, who have won four straight. They are four points behind streaking St. Louis for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, with three games in hand.

Jaden Schwartz had a power-play goal and an assist for the Kraken, who lost their third in a row. Tye Kartye and Jordan Eberle also scored.

Eberle’s ninth goal with 1:30 remaining in regulation tied it 3-all.

Up next

Seattle opens a three-game homestand against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, and the Flames host Dallas the same night.

Saturday: Kakko scores twice, but Seattle Kraken fall to Oilers 5-4