The Orioles are locking up top catching prospect Samuel Basallo to an eight-year extension that guarantees the youngster $67MM, as first reported by Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. Kostka adds that the deal includes a club option for the 2034 season and maxes out at $88.5MM if all incentives and escalators are reached. Basallo, who is represented by CAA Baseball, celebrated his 21st birthday just nine days ago.
It’s a testament to Basallo’s status as one of the most impressive prospects in the entire league. He was a consensus top-15 prospect in the sport entering the 2025 season and has only improved his stock since then after slashing .270/.377/.589 (151 wRC+) in 76 games for Triple-A Norfolk this season with 23 homers and a 13.7% walk rate. He did all that while being the youngest qualified hitter in the International League this year. That sort of sensational production left nothing for Basallo to prove at Triple-A in terms of his bat, and while his time in the majors has barely begun he’s already gotten off to a hot start by going 3-for-10 with a double, a run scored, five RBI, a hit-by-pitch and just one strikeout across his first 11 plate appearances in the majors.
With that said, questions have been raised about his defensive ability behind the plate by outside prospect evaluation services. Even GM Mike Elias himself acknowledged that he felt Basallo’s skills behind the plate needed more work before he came to the majors back in June, though the fact that he’s not only been called up since then but has now inked a massive extension certainly suggests that Elias and the rest of the Orioles’ brass have liked what they’ve seen. Just yesterday, Adley Rutschman was placed on the injured list due to an oblique strain which figures to have the secondary effect of opening up plenty of playing time for Basallo behind the plate down the stretch. That should give the Orioles plenty of opportunity to see how he handles the rigors of the position at the big league level and make an informed decision about how he’ll be used in 2026.
Whether Basallo winds up behind the plate or at first base, however, the deal is a reasonable enough sum that the Orioles can feel comfortable with the investment. Basallo’s $67MM guarantee is seventh-highest figure among 12 hitters who have extended with their clubs after making their big league debut but prior to reaching one year of MLB service time, according to MLBTR’s Contract Tracker. Two such players have signed extensions this year: #1 overall prospect Roman Anthony, who had 38 days of MLB service time when the Red Sox locked him up on a $130MM guarantee over eight seasons, and Anthony’s teammate Kristian Campbell, who had just six days of MLB service time when he landed an eight-year, $60MM extension that guaranteed him $59.2MM over seven years in new money.
Basallo, who is also signing an extension less than a week after his major league debut, wound up receiving a contract that narrowly beats out Campbell’s in terms of total guarantee. Of course, it can be somewhat fairly argued that both Basallo and Campbell fit better with the group of six players who have signed pre-debut extensions in the past decade given how shortly after their MLB debuts both players signed an extension. After all, players like Julio Rodriguez and Ronald Acuna Jr. signed nine-figure deals during their rookie seasons, but only did so after they had already accumulated more than 100 days of MLB service time and put up performances that would go on to win them their league’s Rookie of the Year award. If compared to the pre-debut group, only Jackson Chourio’s $82MM guarantee from the Brewers prior to the 2024 season was higher, as Basallo eclipses both Campbell’s aforementioned deal and the $50MM pact Luis Robert Jr. landed with the White Sox.
Because Basallo’s extension came after his MLB debut, he’s eligible to earn a draft pick for the organization via the Prospect Promotion Incentive. Because Basallo debuted too late in the 2025 season to exhaust his rookie eligibility, if he earns a full year of service time in 2026 the Orioles could stand to gain a PPI pick in the event that he wins the 2026 AL Rookie of the Year award or is a finalist for the AL MVP award in the years before he would become arbitration-eligible. Players who sign pre-debut extensions like Chourio are not eligible for the PPI, but that’s not the case for players who sign extensions following their MLB debut. Bobby Witt Jr. and Corbin Carroll have both netted their teams PPI draft picks even after signing extensions, for example. It’s at least plausible that those rules regarding PPI picks contributed to Baltimore’s decision to wait until after Basallo’s big league debut to finalize their extension with the youngster.
While Basallo’s guarantee is hardly onerous even for a low-spending club like the Orioles, the deal is surely both exciting and encouraging for fans in Baltimore. Previous star prospects produced by the farm system like Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson have developed into star players ticketed for large paydays without signing an extension, and the lack of extensions for that first wave of youngsters has led to pessimism in some circles about the possibility of extending up-and-coming prospects from the next wave like Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo. Considering that Basallo’s deal is the first long-term extension for an Orioles player since they locked up Adam Jones all the way back in 2012, it serves as much-needed assurance for fans that the organization is willing to commit to its homegrown talent long-term.
It was nice knowing you, Adley.
My first thought as well. How is Basallo behind the plate?
Absolute bazooka for an arm, everything else is still a work in progress. He may ultimately end up a 1B/DH, but the bat appears to be special enough to play perfectly well there.
But if he can stick at catcher, this deal may be mind-bogglingly team friendly.
Just really have to work on blocking and pitch calling. Framing won’t matter soon enough.
Yeah, but those are arguably the two most important elements of being a catcher. A cannon arm helps, but you use those other two skills on nearly every pitch. You’ll attempt to throw out a runner only a couple times a game.
So it’s kind of like saying a pitcher only needs to work on velocity and command.
I’m not saying Basallo can’t become average defensively at C, but you seem to be underselling how much work needs to be done to get there. My guess is he ends at 1B.
Game management not to be overlooked…
Unproven.
Why are O’s fans so eager to jettison Adley? 92 OPS+ is fine for a C and he’s still worth 1.7bWAR this year in 85 games (roughly 3.3 WAR pace for 162). It’s the worst year of his career and he’s still productive. Are there attitude problems I haven’t heard about? Genuinely asking, as I don’t really follow the O’s.
I would guess that “trade Adley” is a firmly minority opinion amongst Orioles fans.
Exactly! It’s no coincidence that the strter ERA has been the best in baseball over the last 30 days. It coincides with Adley’s return from his first stint on the IL! The pitchers love working with him!
Adley and Samuel can co-exist for years to come. The question remains, will management view that as a possibility!
He’s represented by Boras and is unlikely to sign an extension. Like Gunnar, he already has one foot out the door to O’s fans. Adley’s wRC+ ranks 21st this season among catchers with at least 250 PAs.
According to the good ol internet, he is repped by Dan Vertlieb of Wasserman. Could be same difference either way where they’re not trying to agree to an extension and to go to FA regardless. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Every season he has played in the majors has been his worst season in the majors.
He was kind of over rated anyway, now the orioles have their catcher of the future next 8 yrs.
I’m not convinced Basallo can stay at C. Everything I’ve seen on him, which is admittedly more national-level sites and writers than Orioles focused ones, say that he’s like as not to end at 1B. Until they know for sure he can stick at C, they shouldn’t consider trading Rutschman.
One thing to keep in mind is the O’s system is loaded with quality catchers.
Right? Future Yankee where he’ll terrorize the Os a la Mussina
Won’t happen. If he leaves by free agency, it will be to the West Coast.
Out west to Sacramento or Seatac via the Oregon Trail? If he goes by Covered Wagon with his squaw and little ones beware the dysentery and smallpox
Adley Rutschman and his barely .700 OPS isn’t terrorizing anyone these days.
In my OOTP save I got Shane Baz and Josh Lowe for him
If you think they are giving up on Adley, who is the better catcher of the two, this soon, you are mistaken. Basallo has a long way to go behind the plate. His bat will carry him for the time being but besides his arm, Adley is still the better catcher right now. They are not going to entertain trading Adley until Basallo is more improved defensively. They would just be selling extremely low on Adley right now too.
They should trade Mayo and Heston for a starter and then they can cycle Adley, Basallo and Mountcastle between C, DH and 1B, with Adley getting some reps at first. He’s obviously starting to break down with the recent injuries and slumping offensively, getting him out from behind the plate so much and making some changes in his swing and approach would provide more of an opportunity to stay healthy, improve offensively and give Basallo the time and experience to improve and time to work with Adley on the areas needed to make a jump defensively.
Mountcastle might also go, depending on how the roster works out but I just included him as the player to stay and Mayo to go because I’d think a team would value the player with more control remaining and you can’t include both because you need one of those RH bats in the lineup unless you make an additional acquisition. There are numerous ways to make it work but I don’t see Adley going right now with value so diminished and the value he still provides to the Orioles.
Nice!
More like Noooice!
Congratulations, young man, you are now rich!
now, time to pony up to sign Gunnar to an extension.
S – And Westburg too.
But not Jackson.
“NO.”
-Scott Boras
KF
“Adley. The Orioles have reached out about an extension. As you know, I typically advise against this as I believe you’ll get more if you go to free agency. Do you want me to tell them, “no”?”
-More likely along these lines than a straight, “No”.
Sure, but I didn’t feel like typing all that out ;-)
Adley isn’t a Boras client, fwiw. (Largely beside your point, I realize, ha. But just saying)
Henderson and Westburg both are, though.
As is Holliday.
Basallo was always the most likely extension candidate amongst our uber-prospects IMO and I am over the moon that we actually got it done for such a modest price relative to his gargantuan upside.
Thanks, I love it!
Also, maybe we can finally drop the silly “Elias refuses to extend anyone” crap.
It’s definitely a nice change to see the O’s finally extend one of their young potential stars.
The thing the overwhelming majority of non-Orioles fans don’t realize is that an extension like this was simply never going to happen under John Angelos and only really became a real possibility once he ceded control of the franchise to Dave Rubenstein last April.
Either way, it’s wonderful to see and I hope that Gunnar is next, even if the chances of that happening are remote at best due to him being a Boras client who won the ROY bonus from the PPI system.
The young players everyone wants extended and who the team would like to explore extending are mostly Boras clients. Extensions aren’t the MO
Orioles chose the cheapest extension for their youngest guy
Where was this money for Gunnar and Adley?
Gunnar is a Boras client so he most likely isn’t going to sign an extension and not extending Adley looks to be the correct choice at this juncture.
.300 hitting catcher = HoF bound
That’s a little quick to say but he does have great potential.
I’ve been leery of hot starts since Kevin Maas came up with the Yankees and had 11 HR’s in his first 78 AB’s or something way back in the early 90’s. Runner up for RoY, but got worse every year since.
Basallo has a lot of talent. I won’t dispute that. But maybe we should wait more than 10AB’s before designing his HoF plaque.
heft
“we should wait more than 10AB’s before designing his HoF plaque.”
And no one is doing this, so…
What can they get for two years of Adley?
Tough to say. It is rare for a 4-year veteran to be able to say every season he has played has been his worst season.
40 million less than Roman Anthony?? Bad agents
If BAssalo doesn’t stick at catcher, he’s likely worth less than Anthony.
His team wouldn’t admit that lol
The Orioles???? Really?🤣
Basallo will be at 1B maybe even next year. My guess is that Mayo gets packaged for controllable pitching this offseason.
Mayo has to play better baseball if we want to get young pitching for him.
Agreed – but that’s why they are showcasing him. He’s already improved a lot defensively.
He’s played 4 MLB games so far, but this contract seems team friendly.
Similar to what Sox did with Roman Anthony extension, tied him up immediately… plus will now trade Adley immediately, in off season…
Such deals all appear team friendly at the time of signing, when we tend to think more potential than likely outcomes. A lot of these deals go on to disappoint, but we most notice the “bargains” for the major successes. It’s the fair price – they sacrifice a good chunk of their max earnings for their better career outcomes to guarantee a MUCH higher floor than they might end up with if they went year to year. Win-win!
Yep. Just ask the Pirates about Henry Davis and that Rodriguez kid whose first name escapes me how hard it is for top catching prospects to actually work out in the majors.
Bargain for a career .300 hitter.
Not as much of a bargain as Merv Rettmund. Or Manny Mota
He hit .259 in 2 partial seasons at AAA. What am I missing, is this an inside joke?
So, the Orioles are familiar with the extension concept. This is earth shattering.
Good for baseball to have teams lock up their kids.
Basallo and Beavers have given me some juice for the future. Hopefully this bummer of a year gives the FO a little kick in the rear to realize how quickly a window can close and they make some meaningful/legitimate moves
Wow! The Orioles put down the biggest surprise on the good side since signing Burnes before the 2024 season!
Even if he ultimately plays 1B this could turn into a huge bargain if he is an above average hitter with power even if he hits the incentives. He could still end up being the primary catcher but it takes the pressure off trying to extend Adley or Mayo. It may put a kick in the conversations of extensions with another of the core.
It always amazes me when young players are given these huge life changing contracts when the team can wait a year to give them one.
AAA pitching is so much less than ML pitching that they have essentially proven nothing but giving hope.
Maybe the price will go up in a year but these are basic PR moves in essence.
They probably work out more often than free agent contracts for much older players but the team is still betting a lot on a player who is basically a minor league player.
And a move to first base would not only put him at a lesser position but also would put much more emphasis on maintaining the hitting promise or show even more than he did in the minor leagues.
“when the team can wait a year to give them one”
If they are a bonafide superstar at the end of that year, they may choose to bet on themselves and hold off on giving away any free agent seasons, especially if they win ROY and get the bonus money that comes with that under the PPI system, which is firmly within the realm of possibility for a guy as talented as Basallo.
That may very well be true.
But if someone flashes life changing money at you after a year in the ML’s it will be still be very hard to turn down.
Plenty of sophomore slumps after the pitchers get used to you.
Plenty of injuries can occur early in your career.
My point is at least after one year they are more of a proven commodity,but still have six years of control.
If a team is guaranteeing six years of salary at say twice what you would earn it will be very hard to turn down unless the player is a real gambler and very confident that he will maintain his hitting ability for many years in the ML’s.
Has anyone researched when top prospects would be called up if service time and the recent CBA adjustments were no issue?
In other words, would players like Chandler or Basallo have been called up to start this season, or mid-season, or start next season assuming they were seen as ready to contribute?
Basallo was okay (given his age) but not great in a fairly small sample size at AAA in 2024 and his catching was (and is) still a work in progress, so he never had any chance of making the 2025 OD roster.
Corbin Carroll too??
What’s the consensus on Gunnar? He’s arb eligible thru 2028 i think. Any chance Boras agrees to an extension before then, or do the O’s ride out the contract and let him hit FA or trade him mid-2028?
I think the chances of Gunnar and Boras selling any free agent years to the Orioles before he actually reaches free agency are incredibly low, like “low single digits” low.
If I am the Orioles I go all in right now for an extension on Gunnar.
If I am Gunnar I wait and see if I can find the .290-.300 hitting, .360+ OBP, 43 HR guy I was between midseason 2023 and mid 2024, so that I can land a $500M deal.
Which leads me to Holliday being the next most likely extension. Can move to SS if Gunnar doesn’t stay. I am hesitant on Westburg as he seems to be injury prone.
There have been rumblings in the local sports media that Gunnar was approached in earnest about an extension sometime in the last year or so but immediately and unequivocally shot it down, which is unsurprising given his age, talent level, and status as a Boras client, and also the fact that he won the ROY bonus money from the PPI system. Coupled with his draft bonus and normal salary, he is not exactly hurting for cash at this stage of his life and career.
He is likely gunning ( ;-) ) for Vlad Jr./Soto type money in free agency and will probably get it (just not from the Orioles).
That will be up to Henderson to agree to an extension not Boras.
Of course, but guys sign with Boras for a reason and that reason is usually to make as much money as possible, and Boras’ philosophy is that pre-FA deals almost always favor the team rather than the player.
“Suggests they like what they’ve seen” or are just into service time manipulation and have always liked the bat enough.
Bye bye Adley!
Doubt it, Basallo is still very much a work in progress as a catcher and will likely split C and DH playing time with Adley next year, with Adley getting the majority of the starts at C and Basallo DHing, flipping the roles once or twice a week to keep Adley fresh.
Adley hasn’t lived up to expectations. Gunnar & holliday are boras clients so you can forget abt extensions . Altho gunnar needs to rebound from a somewhat disappointing follow up to his breakout near mvp season last yr. Overall o’s have proven to be a shaky tm with alot of injured players… basallo got a nice payday. Could be adley 2.0 tho
“Previous star prospects produced by the farm system like Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson have developed into star players ticketed for large paydays without signing an extension…”
Uhh, does anyone want to tell Mr. Deeds that Adley hasn’t quite developed into a star?