Brent Rooker and Athletics finalize a $60 million, 5-year contract

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Brent Rooker and the Athletics finalized a $60 million, five-year contract Wednesday for the designated hitter and outfielder, a deal that could be worth up to $92 million over six seasons if he regularly finishes high in MVP voting.

Rooker gets a $10 million signing bonus and salaries of $2 million this year, $6 million in 2026, $12 million in 2027, $13 million in 2028 and $17 million in 2029.

The team has a $22 million option for 2030 that would become guaranteed if he has 900 or more plate appearances in 2028 and '29 combined or 500 or more plate appearances in 2029 or at least two top 10 finishes in MVP voting from 2027-29.

Each top 10 finish from 2025-29 would increase the 2030 option price by $1 million and each top five finish would raise the price by $2 million.

His deal includes additional award bonuses.

Rooker was set to swap proposed arbitration salaries with the A’s on Thursday. He also would have been eligible for arbitration after the 2025 and 2026 seasons, and could have become a free agent following the 2027 World Series.

The new deal keeps Rooker signed through 2029, when the team is planning to be in Las Vegas. The A’s left Oakland after last season and are set to play the next three seasons in a minor league park in West Sacramento, California. The club says its new stadium in Las Vegas is expected to be ready in 2028.

The 30-year-old Rooker has been one of the best players for the A’s since joining the team in 2023. He batted .293 with 39 homers, 112 RBIs and a .927 OPS last season, winning a Silver Slugger award at designated hitter and finishing 10th in AL MVP voting. He hit 30 homers with an .817 OPS in his first season with the A’s, making the AL All-Star squad.

The agreement with Rooker is the latest big move for the A’s this offseason. The team previously signed pitcher Luis Severino to a $67 million, three-year contract — the largest deal in franchise history. The right-hander can opt out and become a free agent again after the 2026 season.

Severino’s arrival was followed by the acquisitions of third baseman Gio Urshela and left-hander Jeffrey Springs.

For the first time since the current collective bargaining agreement began in 2022, the A’s are to receive 100% of the amount due under the revenue sharing formula. If a team’s luxury tax payroll is not at least 150% of what it receives in revenue sharing, the burden of proof in a grievance alleging violation of revenue sharing rules would shift to the club from the players’ association.

Outfielder Miguel Andujar is the only remaining A’s player scheduled to swap proposed arbitration salaries with the team.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FILE - Oakland Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker rounds the bases after hitting a home run during a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Aug. 30, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)