Orioles Sign Ripken to $32.5-Million Deal

Cal Ripken got a very expensive 32nd birthday present on Monday: a $32.5 million, five-year contract that’s the richest total deal in baseball history.

Ripken, a 10-time American League All-Star, will average $6.5 million a year under the contract, which in average annual value trails only the deal Ryne Sandberg of the Chicago Cubs agreed to in March, a four-year contract worth $7.1 million per season. In total money, Ripken’s contract surpasses Bobby Bonilla’s $29 million, five-year deal with the New York Mets.

“This contract represents the fair value of Cal Ripken to the Baltimore Orioles,” Orioles president Larry Lucchino said. “When you’re negotiating, you do it from all the data you can accumulate. We know what Cal Ripken means to the Orioles, and to their fans.”

Ripken, who is making $2.1 million in 1992 in an option year, will get a $3 million signing bonus, part at the end of this year and part next year. He gets salaries of $4.5 million in 1993, $4.8 million in 1994, $6 million in each of the 1995 and 1996 seasons and $6.2 million in 1997. The final two years are at Ripken’s option.

Included in the deal is a $2 million offer for a post-playing career employment contract with the Orioles at a salary of $500,000 per year.

Lucchino said that because $2 million is for after the end of Ripken’s playing career, it should not be included in determining the contract’s value, in which case the average would drop to $6.1 million. However, if past practice is followed, it would be included in contract evaluations by management’s Player Relations Committee and the Major League Baseball Players Association.

“It’s a gigantic amount of money, a gigantic commitment,” Lucchino said. “We made an offer of $30 million at spring training, and this is an improvement on that.”

The Orioles announced the deal prior to their game against the California Angels. Moments after doffing his hat to the standing crowd, Ripken scooped up a grounder and started a 6-4-3 double play in the top of the first inning.

In his first at-bat, he hit into a fielder’s choice with two outs and two runners on base. It was his 1,698th consecutive game, the second-longest string in major-league history behind Lou Gehrig’s 2,130.

“Reaching an agreement with the Orioles was a continuing objective of Cal’s in this negotiation, and a truly unique and harmonious relationship between a club and player has been cemented,” said Ripken’s agent, Ron Shapiro.

“It takes a lot of time to resolve the fine print, but I never doubted this day would come,” Shapiro added. “There were some difficult days, but the Orioles wanted him to remain and Cal wanted to remain.”

Ripken enjoyed the best season of his career last year, but has struggled this season, leading to speculation the contract negotiations were playing a part. After batting .323 with 34 home runs and 114 runs batted in last year and earning most valuable player honors, he entered Monday’s game batting just .247 with 10 homers and 56 RBIs.