4:03PM: Acuna hasn’t been approached with any offers, the outfielder himself told David O’Brien and other reporters, and he and his representation hadn’t been engaged in any sort of talks about a potential $30MM deal.
1:55PM: Braves phenom Ronald Acuna has at least given some indication to the Braves that he would be interested in a long-term contract, according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. While some discussions have taken place, it seems there is no real indication at present that the sides are particularly likely to agree to a deal.
The report from Bowman arises after former ESPN Deportes blogger Arturo Marcano tweeted yesterday that Acuna had turned down a $30MM offer from the Atlanta organization. But both Bowman and David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link) reported in strong terms that no such offer had been issued by the team.
Acuna, who’s perhaps the highest-regarded pre-MLB player in baseball, was previously re-assigned out of major-league camp in anticipation of opening the year at Triple-A. First, though, he showed why he has drawn so much hype with a monster performance in the Grapefruit League.
A generally similar situation was unfolding with the division-rival Phillies, whose top prospect Scott Kingery pushed for a MLB role with a big performance in camp. He ultimately agreed to an extension before ever suiting up for a big-league game — a somewhat controversial contract model. That deal, while hardly unprecedented, has sparked some new discussion as to whether teams will increasingly attempt to lock up their best prospects quite early in their careers.
For the time being, anyway, it seems there’s not much likelihood of a similar outcome in Atlanta. The team would no doubt be quite willing to make a commitment to Acuna at the right price, but it’s far from clear whether the sides will see eye to eye — or even whether significant further discussions will take place.
I’d be curious how the deals are now working out that we have quite a few. Its hard to follow through the years at a distance. Do we have more Singleton, Wong type outcomes or is the Perez/Longo results more common?
I wouldn’t consider the Wong extension in the same category as Singleton’s. Wong has had some MLB success, although not as much recently. Singleton was never any good in Houston
Singleton belongs in a category by himself.
Wong had performed at the MLB level before he was given an extension, so he isn’t a comparable situation.
Yes, it’s slightly different, but the concept remains the same. If Acuna is given a full year of major league at bats before being offered an extension, his price likely goes up a lot higher than 6/$30M (or whatever the offer was).
You win some, you lose some, but the upside of the ones you win outweigh the ones you lose.
Jose Tabata’s extension decidedly did NOT work out. The second he signed on the dotted line, Tabata stopped caring and trying.
But when you get an Andrew McCutchen locked up through his prime on a deal that peaks at $14.5 million, it pays for the bad deals like Tabata.
I wouldn’t group Wong with Singleton. Wong is a pretty good player and arguably, still has some upside. That just wasn’t fair.
I’m not saying Wong is a bad player. And yeah plenty of upside, but what we’ve seen is an average defender and a slightly above average stick. Not exactly the guy who should get 26 million guaranteed. I have no doubt the Cardinals would of gladly just let him go to arbitration with hindsight. Though it hardly hurts THEM in the long term.
If the cardinals regretted the Wong signing, they could easily have traded him. I don’t really agree with that. Still, grouping him with Singleton didn’t seem fair. But I genera I think these contracts are low risk, high reward for these clubs
I still view these early extensions as high risk to the team. Too many guys don’t live up to the hype.
Matt Moore is another to add to the list from the previous poster.
Matt Moore was hurt. He was pretty good up until that point. 30 mil isn’t even that big of a risk over 6 years
Isn’t Moore’s contract mostly in club options? Ain’t nothing wrong with that.
He had 5 years guaranteed with 3 option years.
I’ll just have to disagree with you then. I think the bigger risk is giving guys like Pujols, Greinke, J. Hamilton etc … large contracts in their 30’s. Making 25 mil a year over so many years. Whereas a guy like Kingery or Wong or whoever busts … it’s just one sum of 25 million. Or even 40. But the upside is so much higher than the risk. Having a stud giving you most of his prime for less than 8 mil a year! Plus, small markets have to take these risks.
One issue with these contracts is that if the deal works out too well for the team, they potentially end up with a resentful player who feels he was somehow taken advantage of. I’d want to be sure I was dealing with a guy who is going to be able handle that- if Kingery were to turn into a superstar, how much money did he just cost himself- possibly tens or even more than a hundred million dollars.
“if Kingery were to turn into a superstar, how much money did he just cost himself- possibly tens or even more than a hundred million dollars.”
That’s highly unlikely.
Players don’t make very much in their pre-arb and arb years.
For example:
– Schoop made $14mm from (2014 – 2017)*
– Daniel Murphy made $18.5mm from 2008 to 2015
– Neil Walker made $29mm from 2010 – 2016
*Note: Schoop still has another round of arbitration, while Walker had 4 rounds of arb.
Even if Kingery is a superstar, he wouldn’t have made much more than current contract.
None of those guys are super stars though. They’re all good just not elite good. Kris Bryant is making 10.85 mm in his last prearb year.
that’s a good catch. I didn’t realize Bryant’s (super 2) contract was > $10mm.
So it really depends on how Kingery develops.
Kingery is a top 30 prospect, and comparatively, Schoop and Walker were only top 80 prospects. Murphy never even reached the top 100 lists.
So at the very least, it looks as if Kingery has the edge over them.
Kingery also gave three team options. Not only would he lose money those years, but the overall value of his eventual free agent contract will go down substantially because he will be so much older.
Plus, generally player salaries go up and we are talking about nine years from now.
I’m probably overstating it by say 100 million, but he could easily lose 50 million (again, assuming he is a superstar). Meanwhile he will have some agent chirping in his ear about how much money he is underpaid. Some guys can handle that and recognize they took the sure thing; some can’t.
I agree! I think more teams are going to start signing more deals like this. Good for both player
and the team
and in the end, great for the game!
I wonder how much.more money Acuna wants than Kingery got?
Who is his agent?
Let Acuna come up and play this season and let’s see how he does. If he continues anywhere near the pace he put in ST then maybe after this season offer him something like 8/115 or 9/130 on the high side. If he performs just average for this yr then something like 6/70 or 7/85 might do it. The rumors of a looming strike under the next CBA should be written into the contract as well, if it does occur. Something like a 1m base salary (prorated) to be paid to the player during a strike period, and once resolved going back to the regular monies that would be due for the remainder of the season.
why would a team write that into the contract in the event of a strike? the union would be the ones responsible for providing strike pay not the team.
Are you sure the union is responsible to pay for each and every players salary during a strike? If so then you’re right no need to include such language.
if you strike, you don’t get paid by the team, obviously. the union would likely step in with strike pay for all eligible players, but it would be far from their yearly salary and would be designed to cover expenses during the strike.
your numbers are way to high. Guys like Machado only managed to earn ~$35mm in their first 6 years.
A lot has changed since MM was a rookie.
arbitration system is still in place. arb figures don’t double every 5 years.
or rather, if Kingery takes it year-by-year, what do you think he’d get in 3 rounds of arbitration? I’m pegging it at ~$25mm
I’m talking about 5 yrs of control left and then several FA seasons for the monies I proposed. Not just the standard 6.
Acuna is the kind of prospect that a Kingery-type deal could make sense for on both sides. If all goes as expected, he’d be leaving a little money on the table during his first couple free agent years, but he’d be getting financial security for the rest of his life, even if he never pans out for whatever reason. And if he does pan out, he’d still be young enough to get on the open market in his mid 20’s, which would set him up for a gigantic payday.
I’m all for moves like that on the player and team side. I just don’t like when top prospects in their mid-20’s sign away their first couple free agent years and are kept off the open market until they hit their 30’s. I understand why they’d accept those deals (financial security), but I don’t think they’re in the player’s best interest.
All that being said, I also don’t begrudge a player for betting on themselves and not selling out their first couple free agent years.
Moore got traded twice by the way. And both times the team dealing for him took on his whole salary I believe. Let’s not act like that contract is an albatross. At the time, it was a good and logically calculated risk by a small market team that has to take chances like that … and rely on cheap controllable younger guys. You can point out in hindsight how it didn’t work out in this case, but that doesn’t mean at the time it wasn’t a good smart risk to take.
First of all pitchers are different than position players when it comes to contracts. Any time you sign a guy like Acuna early it’s a gamble, but if it works out the team wins. out. I think in Acuna’s case he is worth the gamble.
Can we even give the kid a single major league at bat before we start talking about extending a player we control for SIX years?
Sure, but the more he plays the closer to free agency he gets. We might control him for 6 years, but half of those are arbitration where the price will get quite high if he performs well enough. By that point, he’s going to be considering his free agent value and you’ve the advantage you have.
I’d rather take a risk on this and have it being something like a Goldschmidt/Sal Perez deal that can bolster the squad for year, give financial security, and provide immense value for the club to be able to spend more on other needs.
You under the impression In against an early extension? Not at all. Even Goldshmidt played through his first two years. Thus doesn’t have to be rushed.
Kolten Wong is not a bust yet. He was injured most of last year and when he came back he actually was one of our more quietly good player. I think this year if he can keep away from injury he will have a breakout season. My guess for his stats are going to be that he his average will be in between .270 and .300 and he will hit 10 to 15 homeruns and have 70 RBI’s. But that’s just my guess who knows what will happen. Acuna has alot of upside but who knows how he will end up. He’s either going to be one of the top players or just be a bust and I’m assuming he won’t be a bust
Wong wasn’t hurt much last year. It was the year before that in which he was hurt the most. I do agree with you about his potential though.
I don’t understand why people begrudge the players who take early extensions even if they are seemingly leaving some potential earning power on the table.
In terms of financial security, standard of living, setting up future generations, etc. the first $20 or so million is so important, more so than subsequent riches. Especially for the players from countries where that money goes much further.
That said, Acuna should hold out for near Trout money, not Kingery money.
If Acuna is entertaining the thought of signing than they need to get that done ASAP. I think they should be looking to do that with all the kids coming up establish the payroll early
Also, extending Acuna now allows him to start the season on the ML roster. I know the Braves aren’t supposd to be very good but there’s just enough uncertainty in the NL East that they might contend for a wild card, and an extra win or so would be important.
I’m more weirded out by how this former ESPN Desportes blogger is even a reliable source or if he was even considered one. Where is the benefit for a false “report” like this? The almighty clicks, follows and retweets?
5 year 25 (1,2,5,7,10) with 2 team options at 17 and 23 for a total of 7 yrs/65 million. And he will still be 27 when he hits free agency.
2 much
Wow, it sure didn’t take teams long to try to leverage their aversion to spending on free agents this offseason into getting prospects to sign absurdly team friendly contracts. Even as a Braves fan, I’m glad Acuna (fakely) turned down this (fake) offer.
There are pro’s and con’s for each side. However, I think, a 6 year deal is mutually beneficial. The player sees more money upfront, basically rewarding him for working hard and outperforming his initial signing bonus. The team gets the insight of already working out a deal with their top prospect, or one of their top prospects, agents, and they get to lock up their top guy for a couple extra seasons at a solid rate for them.
Acuña will undoubtedly become a solid player in the big leagues, that isn’t a question. He is a true 5 tool player, so even if his bat somehow only plays down to being league average, he will still provide the team with excellent defense, speed on the base paths, and a guy that will easily knock out at a minimum 15-20 HR’s a year…
It is clearly worth the risk for the Braves, who are currently under an ATROCIOUS TV Deal…The real question remains, is it worth it to Acuña?? Does his family need the money now, or he can afford to wait, currently get paid less, and possibly make more during those couple of seasons??
With their current TV deal, the Braves are relatively forced to act as if they are a small market organization..Any money they can save, under this TV deal, will help them tremendously when it comes to locking up their future studs..So, while they don’t HAVE TO get a deal done, it would certainly benefit them to do so, especially if Acuña truly lives up to his production thus far…He could certainly become something special, and eventually price himself out of Atlanta…
Guess we will just have to wait and see how everything unfolds…
I only ask because i truly don’t know before I get comments, plus it sounds like the contract was never actually offered but..the offer was 6yrs/$30mil which would’ve covered the arbitration/controllable years right? Why wouldn’t Acuna except that, it guarantees a large contract upfront before ever playing in majors, plus would he even make much more than that after 6 years of arbitration anyways? Besides, after 6 years if he’s the star we hope he can be he’ll be making $30mil per year (not offered by Braves by any means, let’s be honest)
Seems like a win mainly for Acuna cause it’s guaranteed money without any production yet? But there’s probably an angle I’m not thinking about…
Kris Bryant is set to make over $10M this year alone, which is his 3rd year in the bigs. Over the first 3 years, he’ll make around $12.5M combined. Over the next 3 years, he’ll make a minimum of $30M, bringing the 6 year total to $42.5M. And that’s likely to be SIGNIFICANTLY lower than his actual 6 year total.
If Acuna wants to bet on himself turning into that type of player, he has every right to do so. Personally, I think he’s young enough that giving up a free agent year or two for a nice chunk of guaranteed money would be a pretty smart idea, but it’s obviously not my choice.
Acuna would be a fool not to accept a 7-year, $30 Million offer whether it included additional high pay option years or not. This deal would establish lifetime security for his family and does nothing detrimental to his overall upside, as he would be a free agent at 27 looking for another 200 million. Now, he is one serious injury away from cutting sugar cane or returning to school in Venezuela(???)- how much fun would that be. Braves should include a $1Million bonus to learn to speak english.