ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Veteran catcher Danny Jansen and the Tampa Bay Rays finalized an $8.5 million, one-year contract Thursday.
The deal includes a $12 million mutual option for 2026 with a $500,000 buyout.
Jansen, who turns 30 in April, hit .205 with nine homers and 24 RBIs last season for Toronto and Boston, which acquired him from the Blue Jays in a July 27 trade.
He made headlines when he played for both teams in the same suspended game — a first in major league history. Jansen even batted for both clubs in the same inning of a rain-delayed contest he started for Toronto in June before it was completed in late August.
Jansen has a .220 batting average with 74 homers and 220 RBIs in seven major league seasons with Toronto (2018-24) and Boston.
A Hardee County grandmother is on trial this week for leaving her 7-month-old granddaughter in a hot car where the baby died —the second grandchild to die under Tracey Nix's care. ABC Action News I-Team Reporter Kylie McGivern sat down with Kaila Nix just days ahead of her mother's trial for aggravated manslaughter.