Notable April Extensions

Earlier this week, the Rangers officially signed Elvis Andrus to an eight-year extension with a vesting option for a ninth year that could bring the shortstop as much as $146.275MM. Of course, given the opt-out clauses that are worked in, it's more likely to become a four-year, $58MM extension if Andrus remains healthy.

A look at April 2012 and April 2011 in MLBTR's Extension Tracker shows that if recent history is any indicator, more notable transactions should be on the horizon. Let's take a look…

April 2012

• Reds, Joey Votto agree to a 10-year, $225MM extension. Votto became only the fifth player to crack the $200MM barrier and did so by signing the fourth-largest contract in baseball history.
• Giants, Matt Cain agree to a five-year, $112.5MM extension. At the time, this was the largest contract ever signed by a right-handed pitcher. What a difference a year can make! Cain has since been topped by Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander.
• Rangers, Ian Kinsler agree to a five-year, $75MM extension. Kinsler's contract was the richest deal ever in terms of average annual value for second basemen at the time.
• Reds, Brandon Phillips agree to a six-year, $72.5MM extension. Phillips elected to forego free agency this winter by signing for six years last April.
• Giants, Madison Bumgarner agree to a five-year, $35MM extension. Bumgarner's deal runs through his first free agent season and contains a pair of club options.
• Angels, Erick Aybar agree to a four-year, $35MM extension. Aybar's contract will essentially pay him $5.5MM less per season than Andrus, assuming Andrus opts out following the fourth year of his deal.
• Mets, Jonathon Niese agree to a five-year, $25.5MM extension. Niese's deal bought out his first free agent year, and GM Sandy Alderson was able to secure a pair of below-market club options ($10MM and $10.5MM).
• Indians, Carlos Santana agree to a five-year, $21MM extension. Santana's contract came with just one-plus year of service time and includes an option for his first free agent season
• Indians, Asdrubal Cabrera agree to a two-year, $16.5MM extension. Cleveland managed to secure one of Cabrera's free agent years without taking on significant risk, financially speaking.

April 2011

• Red Sox, Adrian Gonzalez agree to a seven-year, $154MM extension. Gonzalez, of course, would only serve about 15 months of that extension in Boston before being shipped to the deep-pocketed Dodgers last summer.
• Brewers, Ryan Braun agree to a five-year, $105MM extension. Braun was already under contract for four more seasons, but could be in Milwaukee through 2021 if both sides exercise his deal's mutual option. He could be a Brewer for life thanks to the biggest contract in Milwaukee history.
• Athletics, Trevor Cahill agree to a five-year, $30.5MM extension. Cahill's deal guarantees his first free agent season and has club options for $13MM and $13.5MM for the next two. Like Gonzalez, he'll be serving out the remainder of his deal with a new team — the Diamondbacks.
• Red Sox, Clay Buchholz agree to a four-year, $29.945MM extension. Buchholz's deal locked in his first free agent season and contained identical club options to Cahill's deal ($13MM and $13.5MM).
• Giants, Freddy Sanchez agree to a one-year, $6MM extension. MLBTR was the first to report this extension, but I'd bet GM Brian Sabean would take this one back if he could. Sanchez was guaranteed a $6MM salary for 2012 but never played a game last season.

Clayton Kershaw and Robinson Cano are the first names that come to mind (for yours truly, at least) when it comes to extension candidates around the game, and both have the potential to eclipse the $200MM threshhold. Other players such as Matt Wieters and Ian Desmond have been mentioned in extension rumors lately as well. It will be interesting to see how the remainder of the month plays out on this front, as a few more are almost certain to follow.