Astros, RHP Rafael Montero finalize 3-year, $34.5M contract

HOUSTON -- Reliever Rafael Montero finalized a $34.5 million, three-year contract to remain with the World Series champion Houston Astros, a deal that could be worth $36.75 million over three seasons.

The 32-year-old right-hander gets $11.5 million in each of the next three seasons under the deal announced Tuesday.

He can earn $500,000 annually in performance bonuses for games: $100,000 each for 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 games.

Montero also would get a $250,000 bonus in any season he has 30 games finished.

He would get $50,000 for making the All-Star team, $100,000 for Rivera-Hoffman reliever of the year and $65,000 for finishing second or third for the reliever award.

Montero had a career-low 2.37 ERA, going 5-2 with 14 saves, 73 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings and a 1.02 WHIP in a career-high 71 games. He was acquired from Seattle before the 2021 trade deadline and is 18-23 with a 4.64 ERA and 29 saves for the New York Mets (2014-17), Texas (2019-20), Seattle (2021) and Houston.