Phil Hughes agrees to $42M contract extension with Twins

Phil Hughes, who had the best season of his career in 2014 after signing with the Minnesota Twins as a free agent, is getting himself a nice raise a few days before Christmas.

Hughes and the Twins agreed to a $42 million contract extension Monday that will keep him in Minnesota until 2019. The new deal restructures the two remaining seasons on Hughes’ free-agent contract and adds three more.

The breakdown: $9.2 million in 2015 and 2016, then $13.2 million annually in 2017, 2018 and 2019. So, in essence, he’s getting $58 million for the next five years. Hughes was going to make $8 million in 2015 and 2016 per his previous contract with the Twins, which was for $24 million over three seasons.

So pumped to call Minnesota home for the next 5 years! Thank you to the @Twins organization and fans for all the support! #TwinsTerritory

— Phil Hughes (@PJHughes45) December 22, 2014

Getting $58 million over five years makes Hughes the highest-paid Twins pitcher ever, passing teammate Ervin Santana, whose $55 million contract held that honor for about a week and a half. Hughes was a stellar pick-up for the Twins in 2014 after starting his career with the New York Yankees. He threw 209 innings with a 3.52 ERA, won 16 games and had the lowest strikeout-to-walk rate in the league.

Hughes, 28, lost out on a $500,000 bonus because he didn’t pitch 210 innings, which he would have hit if not for a rainout. In fact, he finished the season one out short of those $500,000.

An addition $42 million in guaranteed money certainly makes up for that.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – – –

Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz