The Yankees have agreed with closer Mariano Rivera on a one-year contract for 2013, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link). The deal is worth $10MM in guaranteed money, plus extra performance and awards incentives. Rivera is represented by SFX.
Rivera, who turns 43 today, appeared in just nine games before tearing his ACL in May. He considered retirement after his two-year, $30MM contract expired before deciding to return. Rivera, the all-time leader in saves, has remained very effective beyond his 40th birthday — he posted a 1.87 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 from 2010-12, his age 40, 41 and 42 seasons. Rivera was ranked as the 39th-best free agent on the market by MLBTR's Tim Dierkes, who unsurprisingly predicted that it would be "Yankees or retirement" for the veteran stopper.
The Yankee icon is expected to immediately resume his duties as closer, though it wouldn't be surprised to see New York pick up another experienced bullpen arm to provide depth given the nature of Rivera's injury. Rafael Soriano, who became the closer in the wake of Rivera's injury last season, elected to opt out of his contract with the Yankees in search of a multiyear deal.
ESPN's Jayson Stark reported earlier today that the two sides were close to a deal, with YES Network's Jack Curry and FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi both adding contract details (Twitter links).
MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith contributed to this post
