Designated hitter Brent Rooker and the Oakland Athletics are in agreement on a five-year, $60 million contract extension, sources told ESPN late Monday night, continuing a winter of uncharacteristic spending with a long-term deal for the late-blooming slugger.

Before he joined the A’s in 2023, Rooker had bounced among three teams without finding consistent playing time. The A’s saw Rooker blossom into an All-Star in his first season with them, a 10th-place MVP finisher last year and the receiver of the second-largest extension in franchise history.

The A’s, who will play in Sacramento for the next three seasons before a planned move to Las Vegas after leaving Oakland, already had spent $67 million this winter to sign right-hander Luis Severino and added left-hander Jeffrey Springs in a trade with Tampa Bay. The deals, as well as Rooker’s, continue to push the A’s payroll toward the $100 million range. If they do not spend at least 1½ times the revenue-sharing money they receive, the A’s run the risk of a union grievance.

The deal signals the latest in an attempt to rebuild after years of minuscule payrolls and lackluster results. Though the A’s were a success story of a team that managed to succeed in spite of meager support from ownership, recent seasons with slashed payrolls have yielded awful results and coincided with vitriol toward owner John Fisher as A’s bid the city of Oakland farewell.

Rooker becomes the lone A’s player under contract through their planned Las Vegas debut in 2028. The deal, which was first reported by The Athletic, will pay him $30 million over the first three seasons and includes a sixth-year vesting option for $22 million that can escalate by $10 million. The previous largest extension had gone to star third baseman Eric Chavez, who also held the record for largest contract at $66 million until Severino exceeded it.

The deal buys out a potential three years of free agency for Rooker, who three years ago wasn’t sure how much longer his big league career would remain afloat. After debuting with Minnesota in 2020, Rooker struggled and eventually was traded to San Diego in April 2022. Four months later, the Padres dealt him to Kansas City. Three months later, the Royals designated him for assignment, and the A’s claimed Rooker off waivers.

In his first season with the A’s, Rooker nearly doubled his previous career plate appearances and hit 30 home runs. He was even better last season, hitting .297/.365/.562 with 39 home runs and 112 RBIs.

The A’s surprised teams at the July trade deadline when they declined to discuss Rooker in trade discussions. Rooker was similarly off-limits this winter, as Oakland understood an extension for him would further push their payroll toward the number needed to avoid collective-bargaining issues. Rooker was set to make around $5 million in arbitration, but the contract will count for $12 million because that’s its average annual value.

FRISCO, Texas — Cam Miller ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more in his 54th consecutive start as North Dakota State’s quarterback, and the Bison won their record 10th Football Championship Subdivision title, beating top-seeded and previously undefeated Montana State 35-32 on Monday night.

North Dakota State (14-2) made the trip from Fargo to Frisco for the 11th time in 14 seasons. Its previous title there was three years ago, in a game that also had Miller and Montana State’s Tommy Mellott as the starting quarterbacks.

North Dakota State’s 10 FCS championships have all come in the past 14 seasons (no other school has more than six FCS titles), according to ESPN Research. The Bison’s only title game loss in Frisco was two years ago to South Dakota State. They are still the only team in modern college football to have a 16-0 season, five years ago when the Bison also won the national title.

Miller completed 19 of 22 passes for 199 yards and ran 18 times for 121 yards to win his 45th game (out of 56 starts) and his second national title.

“Cam Miller was the best quarterback on the football field today. There was no doubt about it,” said first-year NDSU coach Tim Polasek, who was an assistant for the Bison’s first two titles in Frisco at the end of the 2011 and 2012 seasons. “Tommy’s a good football player, there’s no question about that either. But all year long, these guys have answered the bell with complimentary football.”

Montana native Mellott had a 44-yard touchdown run that got the Bobcats (15-1) to within 28-25 early in the fourth quarter. He won the Walter Payton Award this season as the top offensive player in the FCS in a close vote over Miller.

Mellott ran for 135 yards on 14 carries and was 13-of-24 passing for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He threw a 19-yarder to Taco Dowler with 1:09 left before an unsuccessful onside kick attempt.

“Our offense was a little bit stagnant there in the first half unfortunately and we came up short because of it,” Mellott said. “Guys kept fighting, it’s very easy 21-3 to quit … and we came back out there and we had a group of guys that fought for this team, fought for the seniors.”

The Bison never trailed after Miller capped the game’s opening drive that took more than seven minutes with a 2-yard plunge. Miller had an empty backfield behind him on their second possession when he got the snap and sprinted 64 yards untouched up the middle for another touchdown.

“It was a draw play with an option to pass as well … they played the perfect front and the perfect coverage for it for us. It just parted,” Miller said. “It didn’t feel real honestly. Usually when we run draws, you’ve got to make a few guys miss. And there was nobody there.”

Miller threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Lance right before halftime for a 21-3 lead. Lance’s FCS-best 17th TD came one play after a catch near the front pylon when he was ruled out of bounds inside the 1 after a replay review. He is the younger brother of former NDSU quarterback Trey Lance, who on Sunday made his first start for the Dallas Cowboys before attending the FCS title game.

Bryce Lance, who finished with nine catches for 107 yards, had a diving 38-yard reception on the final play of the third quarter to set up Miller’s 1-yard TD pass to Joe Stoffel to restore a 10-point lead.

Montana State (15-1) has now gone 40 years since winning its national title. The Bobcats have a 21-18 series lead over North Dakota State but have lost the past six meetings — all in the FCS playoffs since 2010. They lost 35-34 in the second round last season after a blocked extra point attempt in overtime.

“The way the game played out, they played better than us and, you know, ultimately put ourselves in a big hole,” said Montana State coach Brent Vigen, a former NDSU player and assistant coach. “Obviously this is a low point … having 15 victories and you can’t finish it off.”

Up next

North Dakota State opens the 2025 season at The Citadel on Aug. 30, which will be the first time since midway through the 2021 season that someone other than Miller will start at quarterback for the Bison.

Montana State plays its 2025 opener at Oregon of the Big Ten on Aug. 30. The only previous meeting in that series was in 1947.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

The Cincinnati Reds on Monday acquired veteran infielder Gavin Lux from the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Los Angeles will receive a Competitive Balance Round A pick (around No. 37) and outfield prospect Mike Sirota in the deal for Lux, 27, who hit .251 last season with 10 home runs and 50 RBIs.

The Reds have been looking for infield help after they dealt second baseman Jonathan India to the Kansas City Royals in November. Cincinnati added veteran right-handed pitcher Brady Singer from the Royals in the India deal.

Lux played in 139 games for the Dodgers last season, and 129 the season before. In Los Angeles’ run to the World Series title last season, he had one home run and four RBIs in 12 games.