Rivera Tells Yankees He Is Accepting Their 3-Year, $45 Million Offer

NEW YORK (AP) Mariano Rivera told the New York Yankees he is accepting their $45 million, three-year offer and will remain with the only major league team he's ever pitched for.<br/><br/>The closer,

Monday, November 19th 2007, 5:50 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) Mariano Rivera told the New York Yankees he is accepting their $45 million, three-year offer and will remain with the only major league team he's ever pitched for.

The closer, who turns 38 on November 29th, gets an average salary more than $4 million above what every other reliever currently makes.

Rivera's agreement is pending a physical. The Yankees also have a preliminary agreement on a $52.4 million, four-year contract with catcher Jorge Posada.

"We've got everybody back," Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said Monday. "It's good to have both Jorgie and him back."

Rivera was coming off a three-year contract that paid him $31.5 million. He had hoped for an extension before the start of this season, but the Yankees decided not to discuss contract extensions with any of their players until after the 2007 season was over.

"Mariano is obviously someone that we can't live without because he's one of a kind and he's so unique in what he does for us," Alex Rodriguez said. "He's such an unbelievable force in our clubhouse. In many ways he's kind of the voice for a lot of people in there."