Report: Dodgers reward Ethier with five-year extension
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Los Angeles Dodgers and outfielder Andre Ethier have reportedly agreed to a five-year contract extension.
Ethier, slated to become a free agent after the 2012 season, inked a new five- year, $85 million contract extension that will leave the left-handed slugger in Dodger blue through the 2017 season, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The report indicates the contract includes a vesting option for 2018 which could bring the overall value to over $100 million.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The deal is the third largest in Dodgers history behind Kevin Brown's seven- year, $105 million deal, which he signed as a free agent following the 1998 season and Matt Kemp's eight-year, $160 million deal, which he inked during this past offseason.
The two-time All-Star batted .292 with 11 home runs and 62 RBI in 2011 before knee surgery cut his season short in mid-September. He has returned to form thus far in 2012, batting .292 with 10 homers and a National League-best 52 RBI.
The 30-year-old has spent his entire seven-year career with the Dodgers after the Oakland Athletics drafted him in the second round of the 2003 draft before shipping him to Los Angeles in December, 2005.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Over 914 games, Ethier is a career .291 hitter with 119 homers and 498 RBI.