The Seattle Mariners have reached agreement on a two-year, guaranteed $10 million contract with free-agent right-hander Steve Cishek to be their new closer, a baseball source told ESPN.com on Saturday. The deal is pending completion of a physical exam.
Cishek's agreement includes incentives for games finished that could increase his overall payout to $17 million, the source confirmed.
Cishek, 29, is 17-20 with a 2.82 ERA in 311 career big-league appearances. He saved 34 and 39 games with the Miami Marlins in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
The Marlins sent Cishek to St. Louis for pitcher Kyle Barraclough in a July non-waiver deadline trade, and Cishek became a free agent when St. Louis declined to tender him a contract 10 days ago. The New York Mets were among several clubs who reportedly had an interest in signing him.
Cishek joins the recently acquired Joaquin Benoit in a revamped back end of the bullpen for the Mariners, whose relief corps posted a 21-36 record this past season with a 4.15 aggregate ERA, ranked No. 25 in the majors.
New Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto has parted company, in a series of trades this offseason, with relievers Carson Smith, Tom Wilhelmsen and Danny Farquhar, who combined for 166 appearances with Seattle in 2015.