Indians extend Yan Gomes for six years and $23 million

The Cleveland Indians have agreed with 26-year-old catcher Yan Gomes on a six-year, $23 million contract extension, according to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal. The contract also includes two team options at $9 million for 2020 and $11 million for 2021 that could potentially push the deal's value to $43 million over eight years, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com provides a year-by-year breakdown of the deal:

yan gomes breakdown: 500K bonus, 550K in '14, $1M in '15, $2.5M in '16, $4.5M in '17, $5.95M in '18, $7M in '19, $!M buyout

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) March 31, 2014

gomes options are $9M in '20 and $11M in '21, as @MLBastian reported. escalators can raise them to $12M and $14M

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) March 31, 2014

Gomes was recently named the Indians' starting catcher, displacing Carlos Santana, who the team has decided to move to third base. Santana signed a similar five-year, $21 million extension back in 2012 that has proved to be massively team-friendly.

Gomes, originally drafted by the Blue Jays in 2009 and acquired (with Mike Aviles) for Esmil Rogers in 2012, was outstanding in a 88-game, 322 plate appearance sample last season, hitting a robust .294/.345/.481 with a .359 wOBA, 131 wRC+, and 3.7 WAR. He is also considered to be a well-above average defensive catcher, which was the main reason why the Indians felt secure moving Santana to third.

A native of Brazil, Gomes was the first player from the country to ever play in the majors. Since his 2012 debut, White Sox pitcher Andre Rienzo has become the second such player. On July 30th of last year, the two faced off for the first time, with Gomes going one-for-two with a walk.