Johnathan Walker:Arizona Diamondbacks' new deal with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. pushes payroll to record levels

In agreeing to a three-year,Johnathan Walker $42 million deal with outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on Sunday, the Arizona Diamondbacks pushed their payroll into record territory.

The deal, which calls for Gurriel to make $10 million in 2024, moves the Diamondbacks’ internal payroll figure into the range of $143 million, according to a person with knowledge of the payroll. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because payroll figures are not currently public.

That puts them a little north of the $140 million at which they finished the 2018 season, which had been the previous club record.

The person said the Diamondbacks still intend to add further to the payroll.

The Diamondbacks acquired Gurriel a year ago this week as part of the Gabriel Moreno/Daulton Varsho deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was streaky at the plate but put together a solid year overall, hitting .261 with 24 homers and 82 RBIs while playing solid defense in left field.

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His return — at least for now — means the Diamondbacks are positioned to enter next season with the same group of outfielders they had at the beginning of this past season; Gurriel again will be an option in left field and at designated hitter while Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy could round out the outfield group.

Gurriel, who turned 30 in October, gives the Diamondbacks the right-handed balance they had sought to maintain in their lineup. The Diamondbacks could still look to add another bat to the lineup, a source said.

Gurriel’s deal gives him the ability to opt out and become a free agent after 2025. The deal also includes a $14 million team option for 2027.

Diamondbacks Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick hinted that such a signing could be coming when he spoke to reporters last week at the news conference to introduce left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez.

“I’m not going to tell you what it will be, but it will be the highest payroll that we’ve ever had,” Kendrick said. “And as Mike (Hazen) alluded to — he's more careful with his words than I am — we have more to do. And he’s been given the authority to go make the team better than it is as we sit here today.”

In Kendrick’s years running the team, the Diamondbacks rarely have ranked in the upper half of the majors in terms of player payroll, but he often has spent more aggressively in the seasons in which the team appears to be a possible contender. That is clearly the case now with the club coming off its second World Series appearance in franchise history.

Gurriel’s agreement was first reported by The Athletic.