SEATTLE -- Left-hander Marco Gonzales, one of the Mariners' most pleasant surprises last season, will receive a hike in pay for the next two seasons after agreeing to a two-year, $1.9 million deal on Thursday, a source confirmed to MLB.com on Thursday.
The Mariners declined to comment on the agreement, which was first reported by MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, and indicated no announcement is forthcoming on Gonzales' contract situation.
The 26-year-old southpaw made $550,300 last season and would have been in line again for around the MLB minimum of $555,000 for the next two seasons before becoming arbitration eligible in 2021. Instead, he'll receive $900,000 now in '19 and $1 million in '20.
The deal is unusual given teams don't normally give multiyear deals or raises for pre-arbitration seasons unless the contract buys out subsequent arbitration or free-agent seasons as well, but the raise settles a previous grievance Gonzales had filed against the Cardinals regarding a demotion to Triple-A that affected his service time -- and thus his timing on arbitration eligibility -- prior to being acquired by Seattle in 2017.
Gonzales remains under team control for five more years as he won't be a free agent until 2024. He went 13-9 with a 4.00 ERA in 29 starts last season, his first full year in the Majors.
The former Gonzaga standout led the Mariners in wins and ranked fourth among qualified American League starters in fewest walks per nine innings at 1.73 behind only Cleveland's Corey Kluber, Houston's Justin Verlander and teammate Mike Leake.