Ronald Acuña Jr.’s New Contract is Staggering

It isn’t hard to justify a player’s reasoning for signing a long-term extension. It isn’t hard to justify Ronald Acuña Jr. wanting to secure his future. In 2014, the Braves phenom received a signing bonus of $100,000 and then spent the next three and a half years making almost nothing. Last season, he made a bit more than half a million dollars. He was set to do the same this season and next before finally cashing in to the tune of somewhere between four and eight million dollars, unless he manages to win an MVP award, in which case it would bump him up closer to $10 million. Earning just over $1 million for his six years after signing as a professional baseball player isn’t nothing, but it’s also not $100 million, and per Jeff Passan, Ronald Acuña Jr. appears set to sign a contract for a guaranteed $100 million over potentially the next 10 years of his professional baseball life. It’s a lot of money, but it also might be the biggest bargain of a contract since Mike Trout’s six-year, $149.5-million contract signed in 2014 or Albert Pujols‘ eight-year, $100-million contract signed in 2004.

Acuña isn’t on the level of Trout or Pujols, and odds are he never will be, but he is already a very good player. Our Depth Chart projections have Acuña as a four-win player today at 21 years old, sitting right next to J.D. Martinez, Javier Baez, Joey Votto, and Matt Carpenter. Dan Szymborski ran the ZiPS projections for Acuña’s next eight seasons; he averaged about four and a half wins per season, putting him right in line with expectations for Freddie Freeman and Anthony Rendon this year. Acuña is already one of the game’s better players, and his age should keep him at that level for the next decade before he declines, so he gave away potentially four free agent seasons and arguably his entire prime for a fraction of what he might have earned otherwise.

There are two paths to walk down when it comes to putting this contract in perspective. The first is to compare the deal to the one just signed by Eloy Jimenez. The White Sox prospect was guaranteed $43 million over the next six seasons despite never playing a day in the majors. If things break well for him and the White Sox, he will make $77 million over the next eight years and give up one free agent season. Acuña, who has already played a season in the majors and performed really well, will make just $90 million over the next eight seasons if things break right and will have given up two free agent seasons. Then it gets worse for Acuña, because $10 million of that $100 million guarantee is a buyout of a $17 million option for a ninth season followed by another option for $17 million. Those option prices are incredibly small when free agents or free-agents-to-be like Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado are making twice that today, not to mention what salaries might be like eight years from now. According to Passan, the most Acuña could make over the next 10 seasons is $124 million.

Some thoughts on the most recent of the major contract extensions.

Red Sox sign Sale to 5-year, $145M extension

Left-hander Chris Sale has signed a five-year contract extension with the Boston Red Sox, team president Dave Dombrowski announced Saturday.

The five-year deal is worth $145 million, league sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan, and includes an opt-out after three years, a vesting sixth-year option based on stats worth at least $20 million and a no-trade clause beginning in the middle of the 2020 season.

The deal adds to Sale’s current contract (one year remaining) and will go through the 2024 season, with Sale making $30 million annually in the first three seasons and $27.5 million annually in the final two, league sources told Passan.

By popular demand!

Cardinals sign Miles Mikolas to four-year, $68 million extension

So, any thoughts as to the merits of this contract?

Nolan Arenado agrees to eight-year, $260 million contract to stay with Rockies

1.  Congrats to a great player. 

2.  I’ve never enjoyed Nightengale’s takes, but this is just sloppy/ignorant:

Coors Field may no longer be the hitters’ paradise of Cincinnati or Philadelphia now that they are sorting baseballs in a humidor, but he won’t deny it’s a fabulous place to hit.

Batting park factors, 3/1 year:

PHI 102/102
CIN 103/105
COL 117/119

Colorado has never not had the best hitters park in MLB.

Scooter Gennett upset with Reds over lack of communication regarding contract extension

And now the world’s slowest dance begins for the next off-season….

Report: Jacob deGrom’s camp disappointed due to lack of substantive contract extension talks with Mets

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that pitcher Jacob deGrom’s camp is “disappointed” due to the lack of substantive talks about a contract extension. deGrom, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner and a free agent after the 2020 season, avoided arbitration with the Mets last month, agreeing to an $11 million salary for the upcoming campaign.

This situation is particularly intriguing because the Mets’ new GM, Brodie Van Wagenen, used to represent deGrom as part of Creative Artists Agency. Van Wagenen has been one of few active GM’s this offseason, having acquired Robinson Canó and Edwin Díaz while signing Jeurys Familia, Jed Lowrie, Wilson Ramos, and Justin Wilson. According to ESPN, the $79 million the Mets have committed to players this offseason is fourth-most in baseball behind the Nationals ($188 million), Yankees ($140.055 million), and Dodgers ($107.4 million) and just ahead of the Red Sox ($74 million) and Phillies ($73 million).

Mind you, would you want to hang around the Mets if you didn’t really have to?

Lovullo’s contract extended 2 years by D-Backs through 2021

PHOENIX- The Arizona Diamondbacks have given manager Torey Lovullo a two-year contract extension through the 2021 season.

Lovullo, 53, was a coach for manager John Farrell in Toronto and Boston, then was hired as Arizona’s manager in October 2016.

He was voted NL Manager of the Year in his first season after the Diamondbacks went 93-69. Arizona beat Colorado in the NL wild card game, then was swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series.

Well, it seems the manager job market is not much quicker than that for players….