The Blue Jays struck a deal with National League Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey on a two-year, $25 million contract extension, and Toronto completed a six-player trade with the New York Mets to acquire the knuckleballer.
The money in the deal, which will run through the 2015 season, is comparable to the two-year, $26 million extension he sought from the Mets before negotiations broke down.
Dickey’s $5 million salary for 2013 will remain in place. Under the new deal, he’ll receive $12 million in both 2014 and 2015. The contract includes a $12 million option for 2016 that could be bought out for $1 million.
In exchange for Dickey, the Mets received highly regarded Blue Jays catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud, right-hander Noah Syndergaard and outfielder Wuilmer Becerra. In addition, the team will swap catchers, with Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas going to Toronto and John Buck moving to the Mets.
Dickey wrote on Twitter, “Now that it’s official, I want to say that I don’t have the words to express how grateful I am to you for the steadfast support and encouragement I received from all of you. I’ve always felt that there was a connection beyond the uniform. Thank you for making me feel wanted.”
D’Arnaud, 23, hit .333 with 16 home runs and 52 RBI for Class AAA Las Vegas before a knee injury in late June ended his season. He was considered the 17th-best prospect by Baseball America before last season.
Syndergaard, 20, was 8-5 with a 2.60 ERA for Class A Lansing this year with 122 strikeouts in 103 2/3 innings. Baseball America rated the right-hander as Toronto’s No. 3 prospect.
Buck, 32, came to Toronto from the Miami Marlins in November. He hit .192 with 12 homers and 41 RBI in 106 games last season.
Thole, 26, is wanted by Toronto because he is familiar with handling Dickey’s knuckleball. He played 104 games for the Mets this year, hitting .234 with one homer and 21 RBI.
Nickeas, 29, saw limited action with the Mets each of the past three seasons. He has a .180 career average in 73 major league games.
Becerra, 18, played 11 games with the Blue Jays’ rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliate this year in his first pro season. He batted .250.