CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs have viewed Anthony Rizzo as a part of their future since they acquired him. http://www.eaglesrookiestore.com/Eagles-Timmy-Jernigan-Jersey/ . Now hes locked in. The slugging first baseman and the Cubs agreed Monday to a $41 million, seven-year contract that could be worth up to $68 million over nine seasons. "We believe in Anthony," general manager Jed Hoyer said. "We think hes going to be a very big part of our future here in Chicago, and were excited to get a deal done. The 23-year-old is hitting .280 with a .352 on-base percentage. He also has nine home runs and 28 RBIs in his third major league season. Rizzo realized that he was taking "maybe a little bit of a discount now" but said "its security for now and its a huge weight off my shoulder, my familys shoulders, my kids shoulders, my grandkids shoulders." Hoyer said talks for a new deal began with about two weeks left in spring training but were halted before opening day. They restarted less than two weeks ago. Rizzo gets a $2 million signing bonus, of which $250,000 is payable within 30 days of the contracts approval by Major League Baseball and $1.75 million is payable next Jan. 15. He receives a $750,000 salary this year, up from $498,000 under the agreement he reached in March. He then will earn $1.25 million next year, $5 million apiece in 2015 and 2016, $7 million each in 2017 and 2018 and $11 million in 2019. Chicago has a $14.5 million option for 2020 with a $2 million buyout. If that is exercised, the Cubs will have a $14.5 million for 2021 with a $2 million buyout. "This day has come so fast," Rizzo said. "Looking back on it, when I was a young kid dreaming of this day, its a surreal moment." With chairman Tom Ricketts and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein watching, the Cubs announced a deal that has the highest average annual value ($5,857,143) for a position player with less than two years of major league service. Among pitchers in that service group, Seattles Hisashi Iwakuma ($7 million), Torontos Ricky Romero ($6.02 million) and San Franciscos Madison Bumgarner ($5,592,667) have higher averages. "I think its a great matchup for both sides," Hoyer said. "It is unusual that it is early, but I think our knowledge of Anthony and our belief in him as a person makes that possible." Hoyer declined to say if the Cubs are negotiating new deals with other players, but said he "certainly" hopes there are others who follow Rizzo. Rizzo was selected out of high school in the sixth round of the 2007 amateur draft by Boston, a time when Epstein and Hoyer were running the Red Sox front office. Hoyer was the Padres general manager when San Diego dealt for Rizzo. He was treated for Hodgkins lymphoma in 2008 and played only 21 games that season. He recovered, became a top prospect and was dealt to San Diego in December 2010 as part of the Adrian Gonzalez trade. Rizzo then played 49 games for the Padres in 2011 but struggled, hitting .141 with one homer and RBIs. He was traded to Chicago in January 2012 for Andrew Cashner. Rizzo was batting just .173 heading into the game at Miami on April 26. He hit a 420-foot home run to centre and a 413-foot shot to the upper deck in right field that day for his second career two-homer game. It also gave him eight for the season, the most by a Cubs left-handed hitter in April. Last August, the Cubs gave shortstop Starlin Castro a $60 million, seven-year contract. "I feel happy because I feel like I have him and me for a long time here," Castro said. And manager Dale Sveum thought the deal bodes well for a team without a World Series title since 1908. Its pretty important to all of us, the city, the organization, to have somebody like that locked up for that long," he said. NOTES: If an option is declined, the buyout is payable the following Jan. 15. If he wins the NL MVP or finishes among the top five in MVP voting at least twice, his 2019 salary increases to $12 million and the option prices go up to $16.5 million. In addition, if he finishes among the top two in NL MVP voting in any year through 2019 and then is traded, he can void the 2021 option. Rizzo also gets a hotel suite for road trips. His deal was negotiated by agent Marc Pollack of Sports One Athlete Management. http://www.eaglesrookiestore.com/Eagles-Torrey-Smith-Jersey/ . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. http://www.eaglesrookiestore.com/Eagles-Nick-Foles-Jersey/ . LUCIE, Fla. http://www.eaglesrookiestore.com/Eagles-Derek-Barnett-Jersey/ . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. WASHINGTON -- If the Washington Wizards are going to win their first game of the season, avoiding another late collapse would be a good step.Also on the to-do list? Trying to slow down Toronto Raptors scoring star DeMar DeRozan when the Eastern Conference foes meet in Washington on Wednesday night.The Wizards opened the season with back-to-back losses, including Sundays 112-103 overtime setback at the Memphis Grizzlies after leading 96-88 with under four minutes remaining. Grizzlies center Marc Gasols 3-pointer with 15.7 seconds remaining tied the game at 100 and Washington faded as Memphis opened the extra session with 12-0 run.We let it slip out of our hands. We didnt play a great game, guard Bradley Beal said after Washington fell to 0-2 in Memphis. I think weve just got to figure out a way to close out games. We had a chance to win. In overtime the first couple minutes are crucial and once youve got that momentum, its pretty much a gut check. They got a big lead on us and we couldnt score and they won.Washington fell at Atlanta on Thursday 114-99 after the Hawks outscored the Wizards 33-19 in the fourth quarter.DeRozan hasnt trouble scoring in Torontos first three games, including depositing 33 points in Mondays 105-102 home win over the Denver Nuggets. Signed to a five-year, $139 million contract this summer, DeRozan became the first player in Raptors history to open the season with at least 30 points in each of the first three games.Point guard Kyle Lowry added 29 points and put Toronto (2-1) in the lead for good with his first of two field goals over the final 96 seconds. http://www.eaglesrookiestore.com/Eagles-Rodney-Mcleod-Jersey/. .DeMars been great. His offensive (game) right now is unreal, Raptors coach Dwane Casey told the Toronto Star. Kyle stepped up (Monday) and gave him a little boost.DeRozan is averaging 36.0 points while shooting 52.7 percent from the field.Weve got to maintain that and not wear that out, but hes been doing a great job, Casey said of DeRozan.Thats not something many are saying about the Wizards perimeter defense. Washington is allowing opponents to shoot a league-high 47.4 percent from beyond the arc. Memphis sank 15 of 31 3-pointers.We have to guard the 3-point line, first-year Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. Thats what the league is about. You have to be able to do two things. You have to guard the 3-point line and protect the paint. The good teams do that every night.We are building to be a good team and we have to be able to do that. I have a lot of confidence in our guys to do that but its just going to take some time but nobody waits for you. We have to expedite that as soon as we can, but we have to be able to guard the line and the paint. DeRozan averaged 26.5 points against the Wizards as the Raptors swept the 2015-16 season series 4-0. Washington knocked Toronto out of the 2015 playoffs in four games.Three-time All-Star John Wall, who had two knee surgeries this offseason, leads the Wizards in scoring (17.0) and assists (11.5), but is averaging 5.0 turnovers per game. Jerseys NFL Cheap Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Black Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale NFL T-shirts NFL Jerseys Wholesale China NFL Gear Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale China Womens NFL Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Jerseys 2020 ' ' '