Angels General Manager Billy Eppler announced the club has agreed to terms on a five-year contract with OF Justin Upton. The contract will take Upton through the 2022 campaign and will supersede his existing contract. Per club policy, no financial terms of the agreement will be announced.
Upton, 30, was originally acquired on August 31, 2017 from Detroit in exchange for a player to be named later (RHP Elvin Rodriguez) and RHP Grayson Long. At the time of the acquisition, he was batting .279 (128/459) with 37 doubles, 28 HR and 94 RBI in 125 games for the Tigers. Upton appeared in 27 games for the Halos slashing .245/.357/.531 while posting 14 extra-base hits (7 2B, 7 HR) and 15 RBI.
The Norfolk, VA native completed his 11th big league campaign in 2017 with a combined batting average of .273 (152/557) with 100 runs scored, 44 doubles, 35 home runs, 109 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 152 games. Upton established career highs in doubles, extra-base hits (79), home runs (35), RBI (109), slugging percentage (.542) and OPS (.904). He became the first American League left fielder with 35 home runs, 100 RBI and 100 runs scored since Jason Bay in 2009. Additionally, he is among the finalists for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award in left field for 2017.
Among A.L. leaders, Upton ranked fourth in extra-base hits and RBI while finishing in Top 10 in runs (T7th), home runs (9th), doubles (T4th), slugging pct. (7th) and OPS (8th).
Upton has appeared in 1,489 career games in the big leagues with Arizona (2007-12), Atlanta (2013-14), San Diego (2015), Detroit (2016-17) and the Angels (2017). He has compiled a career average of .269 (1467/5456), with 875 runs, 306 doubles, 37 triples, 256 HRs, 812 RBI and 138 stolen bases. Over the last five seasons, Upton has averaged 30 HRs and 90 RBI with a .824 OPS.