As is becoming the trend for modern athletes, Boston Red Sox right-handed pitcher Rick Porcello took to penning an essay on The Players' Tribune to make an announcement. The good news is that the ball player is happy to be signing a contract extension with the team.

"The second to the last day of spring training, I had to move out of my Ft. Myers condo by 8 AM. We had a night game that evening, and I didn't really have any other place to go, so I figured I'd head to the ballpark and just hang out there knowing I had several hours to spare.

I arrived at the facility at 8:30 AM and saw Brian Butterfield, one of my coaches, already there watching video. It was obvious that he'd been at it for at least a few hours"”I think he was on his third cup of coffee. But he was up, at work and looking for ways to make our team better.

It might seem like a small thing but it's those details that make a huge difference when you're on a team"”and with an organization"”striving to win a World Series. From the moment spring training began, those small things made me feel like I was in the place I wanted to be.

On that note, I'm elated to announce that I've signed a four-year contract extension with the Boston Red Sox," Porcello wrote.

Porcello was set to become a coveted free agent the following season, but opted to sign the extension worth $82.5 million. As reported by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, the deal which takes effect in 2016 pays Porcello a $500,000 signing bonus, and salaries of $20 million for the first two years of the deal, and $21 million for the last two. He has a salary of $12.5 million in 2015.

As noted by Big League Stew, in six seasons in the majors, Porcello has a 4.30 ERA over 1,073 1/3 innings. He is coming off his best season with a 3.43 ERA and 3.67 FIP.

"What really sold me on the idea of staying here for many more years was the people. Players here work their tails off and are on a daily mission to win. Coaches here don't just focus on their own area of concentration; they're constantly looking at how the team as a whole can get better. The organization offers every opportunity for you to excel as a player on the field, so it's understandable why the expectations are so high," Porcello wrote.