The Blue Jays and catcher Alejandro Kirk are in agreement on a five-year extension worth $58MM, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided. The deal includes a signing bonus and no club options according to Murray. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic adds that the signing bonus is worth $6MM and there’s no deferred money in the deal. Murray indicates the deal allows Kirk to hit free agency following his age-31 season, which would suggest that the deal begins in 2026 and therefore that Kirk’s $4.6MM salary for 2025 remains in place.

Kirk, 26, is entering the first season of his career where he’ll be the uncontested primary catcher for the Blue Jays after years of sharing time with some combination of Reese McGuire, Gabriel Moreno, and Danny Jansen. Signed out of Tijuana, Mexico in international free agency, Kirk made his pro debut back in 2017 and reached the majors in time for a nine-game cup of coffee in 2020 that was then expanded to a 60-game stint as the club’s third catcher behind McGuire and Jansen. He hit a robust .259/.336/.455 in 214 trips to the plate across those 69 games before finally earning a more regular role with the club in 2022.

He made the most of the opportunity, delivering an All-Star campaign and winning a Silver Slugger award behind the plate. In 541 trips to the plate that year, Kirk slashed an incredible .285/.372/.415 with a wRC+ of 129. In conjunction with his elite framing and blocking abilities, Kirk managed to post an excellent 4.3 fWAR that tied with Will Smith for the fourth-highest figure of any catcher that season. The sensational performance seemed to solidify Kirk’s status as the club’s catcher of the future, and helped prompt them to trade top prospect Gabriel Moreno to the Diamondbacks alongside Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in exchange for an elite defensive outfielder in Daulton Varsho.

More to come…