- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Pirates re-sign Nova to 3-year deal
- Updated: December 27, 2016
PITTSBURGH — Standing in front of his locker at PNC Park on Sept. 29, Ivan Nova made his preference clear. He did not want to leave the Pirates’ clubhouse, he said, and he would do whatever he could to return in 2017.
Nova stayed true to his word. The Pirates addressed their biggest offseason need, announcing a three-year deal with the veteran right-hander on Tuesday. The contract will pay Nova $26 million, according to reports by FanRag Sports and FOX Sports. The deal includes $2 million per season in performance bonuses, according to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman.
• Hot Stove Tracker
The signing will keep Nova in Pittsburgh, where he thrived down the stretch following a trade from the Yankees at the non-waiver Trade Deadline. Nova went 5-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 11 starts for the Pirates, striking out 52 batters and walking only three in 64 2/3 innings. He emerged as the Bucs’ latest pitching success story, benefiting from the switch to the National League, the tutelage of coaches Ray Searage and Euclides Rojas, the pitcher-friendly confines of PNC Park and his relationship with catcher Francisco Cervelli.
Yet Nova’s dominant run was clouded by his uncertain future. The Pirates saw lefty J.A. Happ turn a similar corner as a pending free agent in 2015, and he left to sign a three-year, $36 million deal with the Blue Jays. The comparisons between Nova and Happ were inevitable, but the …
