The Orioles locked up a key piece of their future on Friday afternoon, signing rookie catcher Samuel Basallo to an eight-year extension. The deal, which covers the 2026-33 seasons and comes with a 2034 club option, reportedly guarantees the CAA Baseball client $67MM. Basallo, who celebrated his 21st birthday just nine days ago, receives a $5MM signing bonus and can max out the contract at $88.5MM via various escalators. Baltimore buys out at least two would-be free agent seasons with the option for a third.
The salary breaks down as follows:
- $1MM annually between 2026-28
- $4MM in 2029
- $7MM in 2030
- $11MM in 2031
- $15MM annually between 2032-33
- $18MM club option ($7MM buyout) for 2034
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.
Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner first reported that the Orioles and Basallo were nearing an eight-year, $67MM deal with a club option and a max value of $88.5MM. Noah Trister of The Associated Press reported the specific salary structure.
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…
Framing will still matter, because even if they adopt ABS, it wont call every pitch. Umps will still call balls and strikes, and teams will have a limited number of challenges.
Framing will likely matter. Seems it will be challenge system. Will only allow a few misses so challenges will only be used on obvious wrong calls or critical situations.
Once ABS is in place it won’t be long until umpires are no longer calling balls and strikes. A couple of seasons at most.
MLB just needs to get MLB players used to it like minor league players already are.
Went to a game in Worcester recently where 14 pitches were challenged and only 3 were not overturned. MLB players are better than AAA players so you can be sure that they will be better than AAA players at those challenges.
The challenges are entertaining for fans but they interrupt the flow of the game and 14-15 of then every game will get tiresome. Soon it will be ABS every pitch.
Really? since when have catchers secured big FA deals?
Give it a year or two and every pitch will be called by the cameras. Its inevitable. Pitch framing will be worthless within 4-5 years
Will Smith? $140m
I can’t wait until pitch framing is not valued as much. The catchers today look ridiculous. The amount of times I see them pull in a pitch that’s clearly a ball and try to frame it is insane. Back in the day an ump would stop giving close calls if you tried pulling that crap
I’m more bothered by how many umpires are missing obvious strikes. I can get how sometimes, barely outside pitches are called strikes, but man, in the zone should be better than this.
When the cameras start calling pitches, runs are going to be hard to come by. Hitters are going to have to swing a lot more.
Unproven.
I agree with you. I could see if it was less money. He could easily crash and burn and be out of the league in a couple years.
Basallo is a 40 or 45 FV on defense depending on which scouting reports you read. 50 FV would mean that the prospect’s ceiling is average at that position in the majors. Basallo will be at 1B or DH within a year or two.
i thought 45 was considered meh big leaguer.
But i agree that the profile is closer to Mike Piazza with a cannon arm (Piazza was a little noodle armed). But the scouting reports were basically that if they want him now he needs to mainly play 1b, the bat should play now, but he needs another 1-2 years of development as a catcher to be an average big league catcher behind the dish.
50 FV indicates the prospect has a ceiling of MLB average with that skill.
If he can make dinner they can close a few food stands at Camden- like the time we went on a September weeknight few years back and it was a ghost town
Good enough to guarantee life changing money before he has a full week experience in the show. That’s like an espresso shot of time in the bigs.
He should be an all star like the Brewer guy. Maybe small sample but he’s that good
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.
I am in the trade adley camp simply due to cost.
I thought there was a chance at a Adley for Taj Bradley trade at the deadline, and i would have been happy with that (or something like that). Adley is likely to demand in the 20-30m range, and long term deals for catchers is always super risky, so let someone else pay him elite catcher money in his 30ies when he is clogging up 1b.
I’m trade Adley because I think his value has already peaked when we thought he would be the next big thing so cash in before it drops even lower.
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!
They can co-exist with Basallo at 1B.
Adley is not a Borass client!
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.
They should really look into trading Westburg or Mayo this offseason for some young controllable starting pitching. Westburg is almost always on the IL and Mayo is starting to look like a bust, but hasn’t had enough time to really know. Another team could still value him enough in a prospect package
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.
That’s great, but aside from Rutschman, how many MLB-proven C’s do they have?
O’s already list Basallo as C/1B and Irish as C/OF. There are no MLB quality catchers behind those two.
They also drafted catcher Caden Bodine with the 30th overall pick this year. They have high expectation for him too.
who is overrated?
O’s have their 1B/DH of the future in Basallo. He is a horrible catcher.
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
Like most free agents he will go wherever they pay him the most money.
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.
“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.” 100%
Kjerstad has zero value right now. A demoted guy batting .149/.225.248 in AAA?
Who has a heart defect and fatigue issues as well. I’m rooting for the kid but he’s going to be 27 next spring. Time is running out
Not necessarily the end to Adley’s time in Baltimore. They can move Basallo to first, keep Adley behind the plate, and move on from Mayo…that’s my preferred option.
I prefer to move on from Mayo and Heston honestly. If they can put them both in a package with another prospect and get a true front of the rotation arm with some control left, that is what they should do. Then sign a Cease/King/Woodruff type and have a rotation of FA acquisition, trade acquisition, Bradish, Rogers and a competition in spring for the backend slot, with the remaining arms slotted into the pen. Wells will likely be stretched out as a starter but with Felix now out next year, Wells should be looked at as a high leverage arm for the pen, with closer the goal.
This team can be so good and can be serious contenders with the right moves.
Do people seriously forget about Dean Kremer… he’ll command 15-20 million a year for multiple years when he hits free agency and Baltimore fans never bother mentioning him… Oriole fans might be worse than Ravens fans
Dean Kremer?
Quietly become a pretty good pitcher. And staying healthy!
No one has forgotten him. He’s a backend starter and would likely slot into the 5th spot but there are also other pitchers that should have the ability to compete for a spot as well. Competition is a good thing.
Having two good catchers is never a problem. Especially with DH and 1B as an option. You can platoon them behind the plate and keep them in the lineup.
That’s ridiculous. For starters it’s quite clear they don’t intend for him to be an every day catcher. His bat is too elite to sacrifice to the wear and tear of catching.
They have already signaled that he’ll be the back up catcher, but primarily DH and play first.
i actually thought that they may end up dealing him at the deadline this year- as an Os fan, he has been so bad this year that i do not view him as cornerstone player anymore.
Trade Adley to Detroit for a young minor league pitcher and Dingler. Baltimore needs starting pitching and Dingler has had a better year than Adley! More likely Basallo is in your DH/1B/C rotation and they keep Adley.
Nice!
More like Noooice!
Such a smart move by Baltimore. Congrats O’s fans
Yes it is. Locking up a plus bat at catcher is very smart. Considering his age, and the fact he’s making $1 million a year, they can move him around a few positions and DH while they refine his mechanics behind the plate. And it will help him to get reps at a few extra positions while he’s young, which future proofs the contract if at some point he can’t catch
The conversation thread above this one makes it seem like they need to do something major with the other catcher. Just get the kid some at bats, and work out the rest.
Adley is on the IL, should get plenty of at bats. Probably not more that 130 though to keep him in line for a possible ROY next season.
that is the Os way- and why you call him up this late in the season. Even easier for a catcher, when almost none of them catch every day, so no one would flinch at him only playing every other day (or more likely 2 on 1 off and no doubleheaders)
Congrats to you too on your congratulatory post! Noicing your noice!
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.
this has cost adley a good amount of money. 1-2 years ago he may have got 10 years 200 million (or something crazy). I am not sure if anyone even matches what will smith got anymore.
How about Cowser,?
Cowser is not hitting well at all this year
you lock up a few stars not the entire roster.
At this point Mayo, and Holliday are the 2 you look at as possible lock down guys.. The rest you accept you are getting 6 years of team control and maybe resign some towards the end of it all.
At this point Gunnar is massive extension nearing what he would just get in FA- like 10 years 350m (feel like that would need to be a starting offer).
Not guaranteeing mayo a penny. I don’t know that he’s going to be an above average regular.
Juan Sotos contract would be the comp.
…or if not, trade him and move Jackson to 2b and Westy back to third. I don’t want to see him walk in 2 years for nothing.
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.
Would have been more impressive signing an all-star like Gunnar instead of someone who’s played a week in the majors but he still looks like a special player.
Angelos would have waited until he was older and a certain dh only and paid him 3x more.
Hey KF, even here in LA, we knew about Angelos and his money grubbing self. Very glad you have someone different making decisions.
On a side note, for those who complain about the Dodgers, think about this. The Orioles fan base has been frustrated by how cheap Angelos is and how it impacts their team.
You might think “it’s the market, they just have nothing to spend”. But new person in control, new ways of doing things. Better for the club, better for the fans
You don’t need to have Dodgers money to make smart decisions. You just need a smart person making the decisions at the top.
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.
it was offered for sure. but $67M was peanuts for Gunnar and Adley at the time. lol.
“Where was THIS MONEY for Gunnar and Adley?!?”
Where was $175-220MM? that’s a different question than $67MM.
Well given that he had never done it ever it wasn’t silly at all to say he refuses to do it. More like observant. Close to seven years and zero extensions feels awfully similar to “refuses to extend anyone” and kind of makes it less like crap and more the actual thing that happens. But yes, you cant say he refuses today.
It was a John Angelos policy, not a Mike Elias policy, and now that Dave Rubenstein owns the franchise rather than the Angelos family, it is clearly no longer a policy at all.
I was not familiar with the owner’s rules but if that was the case I am glad to hear it and am a more optimistic fan. I will say Rubenstein had zero examples until now. I get just a year and a half but with so many young players and the trade for Burnes, at least one before this would have felt appropriate. Then the Angelos family had some extensions in their past. Maybe not John. The Chris Davis one maybe was what put John in a never again mindset but he should have just realized it was a horrible mistake to give that money to a guy a year away from maybe .198 and others could have worked. I appreciated the Adam Jones and Markakis extensions.
I really hope you are right that neither Rubinstein or Elias are averse to extensions. This is a great start. Keep it up but be smart. This felt smart.
Rubenstein basically said last year that he didn’t want to overpay for players because the dodgers were offering so much money for people he wanted
It remains to be seen if this year he will cry wolf again or actually sign some pitchers
I assume he has floated similar offers to all of these guys- but a guy like Holliday whom comes from money does not have to worry about locking in and take the gamble.
I think there is a bias to think that if something doesn’t happen (eg Os havent extended Gunnar or Adley) that it was the plan or MO of the front office. For all we know they have been trying hard to extend them but the players are refusing….
.300 hitting catcher = HoF bound
That’s a little quick to say but he does have great potential.
I recall Matt Weiters being over hyped, as well as Adley thus far….both good catchers but not what they were hyped to be.
How can a player that has only had one catcher in the last 84 years be better through their 1st 3 seasons by over-hyped?
Pads fans, I am so confused. What are you trying to say?
To be fair, it might just be me.
Oh, and it was a good game tonight, even if we did lose.
I think he is talking about Adley Rutschman. Among catchers, only Bench has had a better start to their career. Rarified air.
It’s not just you, Another Dodgers Fan.
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…
Guess you didn’t read, “.300 hitting catcher = HoF bound”
So Will Smith is HoF bound? Is the .300 for a season or career stats?
hwaft
Hmmm. It appears that I didn’t. Or at least didn’t take it seriously enough to remember.
Jeff Francoeur is my forever cautionary tale of getting too excited about your top prospect having a hot start.
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.
It is even rarer for a catcher to average 4.4 WAR in their first 3 seasons. In expansion era baseball you only need 1 finger to count all the others. You only need one hand to count all the catchers that averaged 3.7 WAR in their first 4 seasons.
Kind of an exclusive club that Rutschman lives in.
Maybe the Orioles will trade him to the Padres. Rutschman and Fermin would make a formidable duo behind the plate for us.
Padres have a thin farm system so it would need to be big leaguers. Merrill would be interesting since that 10 year 156 looks riskier than it did when they signed it; but the Os could use a locked up CF with star upside…. the Os may need to throw some other stuff in to make that work
Totally agree with above. Pour guy is getting Matt Weiters’ed. An outstanding all star catcher that didn’t quite live up to the hype…. Adley has been great …
Maybe 4th starter quality with upside.
Just spitballing and assuming Adley will make $10.5M and $17M over the next two seasons of arb. This will be factored in a trade. I don’t think the O’s should trade him yet to help groom Basallo.
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
Anthony is on another level. One that is $40M worth.
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…
Why trade your best defensive catcher who was arguably better than basallo in MLB a year ago? He was on pace for 30-35 hr…with good walk rate and defense. Pairing both will be elite for a 2 yr push to world series with some alternating at dh. Short sited to trade alley now. Good thing Elias isn’t short sited.
It’s the Orioles, they may not want to pay Adely what he wants, especially if he goes to free agency…may get very expensive. Nowadays you need 2 catchers, with injuries, long season…. With catching, DH, 1st base opportunities MLB 162 game season, as just mentioned, need to premium catchers, like 2 running backs in football….
Calling up Dalton Rushing to give Will Smith more rest has worked out tremendously for the Dodgers. And it might be a blueprint of sorts for the Orioles.
Dalton is also getting time at a couple other positions for versatility and future proofing.
This kid they signed is 21. And probably the most able to learn another position as he will ever be.
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 don’t forget about the early, failed extensions for Evan White, Kyle Lewis, Scott Kingery, etc.
This pretty much is the entire list. Now when you look the other way. Team friendly deals are just that. Team friendly. And players massively sacrifice earning. It pays to wait.
The poster child at C for this is Kibert Ruiz.
Rizzo had to salvage “something” out of that deal with the Dodgers because Josiah Gray is a walkihg gopher ball. So he gave Ruiz 8 yrs. $50 million through 2030. Ruiz has a 4.8 career WAR, 2.8 dWAR. Hee’s worse than many backups at framing. This season, like the rest of the team, he’s been awful whenever he’s not been injured.
Kyle Lewis never got an extension. He did win ROY though.
I don’t think it pays to wait when ya 21…He gets guaranteed money now and gets to bite the free agency apple at 29 definitely still at peak. An 8 or 10 year deal is not something I recommend for a 24 year old coming up but at 21 it works.
Have you seen what free agents get when they are 26 an 27 years old opposed to 29?
Yeah I have, everyone’s personal and family situations is different. If you have needs that need to be filled like getting your parent’s a house so they can retire, or ya found a good woman and ya want to make her happy by getting a 5 million dollar home somewhere you are willing to sacrifice some on the back end to get more up front. I know 700k might seem like a lot but it isn’t when everybody in your clubhouse is a millionaire. Also, you aren’t promised tomorrow, some unforeseen accident or situation could arise like an injury where you get told you may never play again. That first bite is the most important bite it gives security and it’s guaranteed money.
I know someone personally who was drafted by the Reds and did make it to the bigs. He ended up becoming a Yankee eventually struggled, and got cut. He only played up until he was 27 and only got about 3 or 4 million total for his career. While it was a dream come true for his family to pitch in Yankee stadium he had to retire at 27 and go to college finally which he turned down a scholarship in order to be drafted. Ya want to be set as soon as possible you never know if ya might fail and get cut.
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.
Endy
Thank you. I knew it started with an E but I couldn’t place it.
You’re welcome.
Wait until you’re 72 and have trouble with your own name.
I had to google it for Endy.
The memory is the second thing to go.
The first- the eyes.
I thought ED was first but yeah the eyes make sense
Don’t forget BART, SF, now Pirates, not gained much traction…
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?
Doug,
He’s 3 for 10 in the majors.
All 10 AB?
Hey hey hey. He’s on pace for a 202 RBI season next year.
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
Catchers won’t help the Orioles. Unless they open the pursestrings wide and invest in starting pitching 2026 will be a repeat of 2025.
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.
A lot more life changing money would be needed if the O’s wait and he has a good year. The more he proves it, the more he costs. Also, if he has a very good year, he may suddenly not feel like locking himself down in Baltimore anymore.
It’s a big gamble to wait. Wander Franco got 180+ million after playing well for 70 games in the bigs
IMO, these are the exact types of swings that teams who don’t have a top payroll need to be making
But it would also be a big gamble for him to turn it down.
It really turns out to be who is the bigger gambler.
Let’s not talk about Wander Franco
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.
Basallo was bad behind he plate. His CS rate was just 13%, he had 5 throwing errors in just 47 throws, his pop time was among the lowest in professional baseball, he allowed just one PB but pitchers led the International League in % of WP while he was catching because because he is so bad at blocking balls in the dirt. Add in that the pitcher’s ERAs were nearly a point higher than with any other catcher on the Tides, you can understand why he only caught 33 times vs 41 games at 1B or DH.
The kid can crush the ball. THAT is what he is getting paid to do, not catch. He will take over for Mountcastle at 1B most games and with O’Hearn playing for the Padres now he will play quite a bit at DH as well. I doubt he gets many starts at catcher unless Rutschman gets hurt again.
I’m pretty skeptical that he will ever be good enough defensively to serve as the everyday catcher for us, but he only just turned 21, seems to be fairly athletic for his size, and has a cannon arm, so they definitely aren’t going to give up on him catching just yet.
The bat looks potentially good enough to play anywhere though, even DH.
Given all the injuries at C and how well Basallo was hitting all year, there’s a case for him being called up in May/June but not for opening day. The Orioles were putting Chadwick Tromp, Maverick Handley et al out there.
On opening day the Rutschman/Sanchez tandem locked Basallo out, and that should be 100% defensible if accused of manipulation.
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).
He is better than both so anything less than 500m would shock me.
Sure, especially if the extension talks were during the 2024 season or offseason, when Gunnar was coming off a 37 HR season. This year’s pace is in the low 20s. While his defense is better this year he’s also not Mark Belanger there.
Witt Jr. was better last year and this year (even though his HR’s are down, 40 doubles and hitting nearly .300 with a bit better defensive #’s overall). He’s a year older but right now he’s better. $35M a year may end up being a relative bargain for the Royals but it also frames Gunnar’s ceiling.
That goes into my comment above. If Gunnar returns to 35-40 HR form, that $500M is back in play, so I don’t think anything’s in play for 2026 unless Gunnar strongly feels $30-$35M a year is more than plenty and tells Boras to deal with it.
He’s getting more then 500 m.
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.
True dat.
Boras would squeeze for a higher extension if they even have talks than BWJ got with Royals even though not as good an all-around player.
I wonder if the new CBA will have a cap and floor but also have a more robust salary structure for young stars earlier in their careers than either making under $1M for a couple of years then a fraction of their worth and waiting out for a gigantic payday. This would eliminate a lot of the Boras crud.
If that’s the case, this deal looks even better if Basallo produces.
No. Until the owners agree to open their books to the union and 100% revenue sharing there is no way the players will agree to a cap.
The Orioles have 3 more years of Gunnar’s best years on the cheap. After next year they will start to have conversations, but one year of Tucker netted a nice return and that goes the same twice over for Soto. I think Gunnar’s going to be an Oriole for two more years for sure, and maybe the whole 3 if they’re winning, but he’s not going to be their big number guy unless he forces their hand by being amazing and beloved. I have hopes for amazing, but not beloved.
In no way will the next 3 season of Henderson be cheap for the Orioles. Henderson is arb eligible this offseason and he is going to get a record amount, well over $10 million. Not many players that averaged more than 6 WAR before becoming arb eligible the first time. His 2nd time through about $18-20 million. The 3rd time through about $30 million. Basically Juan Soto money. $60 million or pretty close to that for the next 3 seasons.
“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
If Basallo ends up catching for a few years and then moving to 1B and hits something like .250 or .260 with 20 or so HR a year, playing an average of 140 games per year this is a bargain from the Orioles’ standpoint..
Why those numbers? Because that’s what Mountcastle averages now, playing 1B/DH and at 28, even with his 33 HR season that looks to be the outlier at this point thrown in. His arb number is probably at least $9M-$10M this year. Those #’s only go up. Obviously they will either trade Mountcastle or non-tender him this winter.
Basallo won’t be hurting for $ either.
“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?
Why do the Yankees never consider these types of deals? I’m guessing they never have had someone special like Anthony or Basello. Volpe, Wells, Dominez, etc. Are good, just not great to consider long term.
Advantage of deep pockets. Keep your guys motivated to max out arb salaries/ball out on the big stage….when someone gets big guaranteed $ early it’s easy to lose that same drive when you get paid the same no matter how you perform/avoid IL or not, etc
This is what Orioles dreams are made of!!! So uber-flipin’ needed! Congratulations young man!!
Some information to chew on today:
prospectsavant.com/player/694212
None of that speaks to the most salient point. Basallo can’t play defense at catcher and will be a 1B or DH in a couple of years. Do you really want to give long term dollars to a DH?
@Baseballisthebest
Did I say I was giving him long-term dollars to DH? Maybe you replied to the wrong person?
York, you are not giving anyone dollars. The Orioles did that. And they did that to have Basallo play 1B and DH most of the time just like he has in the minors.
Pads doesn’t realize our money goes from the team to the player.
Our money as fans goes to the team. That is who WE as fans give our money too. The team distributes less than 50% of that to players.
WE as fans have no say in how that money is spent, so WE as fans are not giving anyone our dollars.
The O’s are extending players and spending money? Expect Gunnar, Westburg and Holliday to knock on the door soon.
Instead, wasted money on Morton, O’Neill and Sanchez
So many players the O’s could have extended and the one they do extend is a catcher that is horrible behind the plate? The only question for Basallo is whether he ends up at 1B or DH.
He just turned 21. 70 grade arm and 55 potential behind the plate. That’s far from horrible.
I agree with Best. Basallo has a 40 (BA) -45 (MLB Pipeline) FV grade behind the plate. That is below MLB average as a ceiling. His arm has not resulted in an even average CS rate because he does not have an accurate arm, 5 throwing errors in 47 throws this season, and his pop time is near the bottom of the charts in professional baseball at any level.
He is destined to play 1B and DH in the majors. He simply does not have the skills to play behind the plate. His calling card is hitting for power and that is what he is earning his money for. He fits in well as a 1B.
From BA:
Scouting Report: Basallo has an elite offensive skill set for several reasons, with his ability to generate hard contact chief among them. His hard-hit rate of 49.6% led Orioles prospects, and his 90th percentile exit velocity was 105.9 mph. He’s still in the process of harnessing his power in games, because his advanced bat-to-ball skills and ability to make contact on pitches all over—and sometimes out of—the strike zone can lead to suboptimal contact. This is viewed less as a plate discipline issue and more of an experience issue. Basallo sees pitches well out of pitchers’ hands and is a diligent game-planner for his at-bats. Focusing more on pitches he can drive will further unlock his advanced offensive potential, especially given his adjustability and strong base at a young age. Basallo is flexible for his massive size and moves well behind the plate, though his receiving is an area of constant work as he gains professional experience at the position. He boasts a tremendously strong arm and accurately deploys it. His cerebral approach of cataloging his at-bats in the batter’s box carries over behind the plate as he grows into the role of managing a pitching staff and reading hitters to help navigate upper-level lineups. While Basallo may be challenged to be a full-time major league catcher, his skill set is adequate on its current trajectory to catch a few times each week while being an impact bat. He has also spent time learning first base.
The Future: The offensive upside Basallo possesses, as well as the tremendously high standard he sets for himself, create the incredibly attractive profile of an impact middle-of-the-order major league bat. The value of that may be influenced by his ability to stay behind the plate, but Basallo has all-star potential and could push for a major league debut in 2025.
Scouting Grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 70 | Run: 40 | Field: 50 | Arm: 70.
When was that? Their mid-season update said 40 mainly because he was so bad behind the plate this season.
From Keith Law (pre-season):
“He’s got at least a 70 arm and is athletic enough to become a 55 receiver and blocker, although right now he’s succeeding more on his pure physical ability and needs polish on the finer points of catching.”
From ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (August ’25):
“Basallo has legit 40-homer potential and might be an every-day catcher. He is a good enough framer and blocker, and he has a plus arm, though his exchange and accuracy are lacking a bit.”
I don’t know where you’re getting mid-season 40 FV from? Docking a 20 y.o. in AAA in a half-season all the way down to 40 doesn’t make sense.
Yet his framing was 3rd worst in the International League, he was the worst at blocking pitches, his pop time was among the worst in baseball at any level, and his throw accuracy was the worst as well.
Results count and his are bad.
I never even read Fangraphs or Law because that is ONE PERSON trying to judge thousands of prospects. MLB Pipeline has a team of dozens. 12 people work on BA rankings.
MLB Pipeline had him as a 45 FV, BA a 40 FV on defense.
Always remember that it takes both the team and the player to make a deal. A team cannot just extend players.
Same as Free Agency. I always kinda chuckle in the Offseason when I read something like “they shoulda just signed Player X to play here…”
It takes both sides to reach an agreement.
Congrats to the O’s and Basallo!
I feel like this opens the door for the O’s to shop Rutschman for controllable starting pitching this winter
Oh look. Elias does sign players to extensions. Maybe his failure to do so in the past was more about the player not wanting to sign.
Least this breaks the weird and unhealthy obsession the Os have had with drafting blonde guys from the country in succession
He was an international signing. 😂 That thing you mention, it ain’t over and it ain’t going nowhere. See Ike Irish from Auburn this year. I had seen it as guys with low body fat from southern colleges, most likely the SEC. It varies some but they fish in that pool a lot.
Fair contract for both. If Baltimore scouting is right it will be a bargain for them. His K and even more so catching ability is a concern but nothing a 21 year old can’t improve on.
Like it for Basallo. A lot of concussions can happen in 6 years. Or he has to play 1b or even worse dh. Now he is set for life no matter what. I would have fought harder not to have that option though. Could have been free agent at 29 instead of 30. Then again if he didn’t sign he might have not made his debut until next year.
Didnt see that coming. Westburg and Gunnar next please….in that order
I couldn’t be more thrilled about this. I felt like this was the most important doable extension and after seeing him for a few games feel it much more strongly. The wonderful thing about this is at this money he does not need to be a successful catcher. He can be a DH and be worth three times what he gets paid if he hits well. Or be a 1B. The thing about all the comps to guys who flamed out is yes, it can happen but he just looks right. You may do well until the league figures you out (see Cowser) but then there is just getting around on a 98 mph fastball at your Adam’s apple and that is just talent.
The contract is such a bargain that if he flames out it wont hurt them too much. Its not we have to force Chris Davis into the lineup and the cleanup spot because he makes 23M this year and 3 years after that.
I am not sure what the Adley situation is but think he needs to go ASAP. There is something wrong with the chemistry of the team, which did not seem to be there in the beginning of his career-quite the opposite,and the .220 BA for about a full season, its time to shake it up, new faces, change of scenery could help him. They clearly have imagined a world without him or Basallo at C after this draft. I am fine with a veteran one year two year guy until Bodine Irish mature if they are needed at the C slot.
I can believe that Gunnar turned down an extension and if so think we need to cash him in for a nice haul. If he wants Vlad Soto money for .280 18 HRs not interested. Think he may be part of the chemistry problem too as he seems to exude a bit of a negative vibe lately. Think he made a comment the Os should be adding at the deadline 10 games back in a kind of critical tone. I like the idea of a future with Basallo and not Adley or Gunnar. Westburg Holliday would be nice too. Beavers off to a great start.
Whatever happened to waiting at least a couple of years into a player’s big league career to get a better gauge on a guy’s true talent level before giving out these early career extensions? How do we even know this guy will stick in the Majors at this point?
I think everything has become so obscenely expensive it makes sense to try to get ahead of it. Maybe it would have been nice to talk to Vlad about an 8 year deal with a 9th year option when he was still young and struggling but you knew he had that 80 hit tool. Vlad about 475M. Basallo 67M. Its worth trying unless you go 0 for 7. Bobby Witt they wait two years to see how good he is and 280M. They are just hoping they guess right and get a discount.
If you wait long enough for a young player to gauge his own MLB potential, he’s not signing them. There aren’t a lot of 20 year-olds in AAA and he’s excelled there.
Basallo will be the Oriole’s 1B/DH starting in 2026. Mountcastle will be traded prior to his final arbitration, for Oriole’s fans sake hopefully to acquire starting pitching, and Mayo has disappointed with the bat showing no power which was his calling card as a prospect.
Basallo has shown in the minors that he doesn’t have the skills to play behind the plate, which is why he has played 1B or DH in most of his games in Norfolk this season. His strong arm has not translated in throwing out runners, just 13%, because he has among the slowest pop times in professional baseball and the accuracy of his throws leaves a lot to be desired and has resulted in 5 throwing errors with Norfolk in just 47 SB attempts.
I like extending him, I just don’t understand why the Orioles have not made a bigger push to sign other top prospects. As a plus (60 FV) but not elite (35-70 FV) prospect, I had expected that Basallo would not be the one that the the Orioles were going to be in front of with an extension . Instead Basallo is the only one that has been offered one at all according to rumors on this website. Several have said that the Orioles have not even approached them about a possible extension, let alone made them an offer.
I think one issue for not offering an extension to their other young guys is that a few are Scott Boras clients and that’s not something I can fault the Orioles brass. Bassallo is represented by CAA I believe, fact check me on that, he’s not a Boras client.
Interestingly enough. Boras clients sign extensions at about the same rate as MLB players overall. Sometimes its worth doing the research instead of listening to the media.
True, it’s just that Boras clients always get buzz from the media, and more so the few that don’t, get the media buzzing, so I’ll admit I’ve fallen for it. Then with that reasoning, it just depends on the players then.
That applies to us all. Pads Fan will sometimes adamantly defend his position and ghosts when he’s been proven wrong with presented supported facts.
Correct. Pads has no clue about a hierarchy of a baseball organization nor realizes the impact of fan support through the almighty dollar. After being decimated in a baseball conversation he will mute you, then unmute you to make a silly response only to mute you again. He’s soft.
Congrats to Basallo and the O’s.
Haven’t seen him play when he got called up, only saw him tear it up at the minors. Good on the young man to not pass up his chance at life-changing money and good on the Orioles for giving this to their potential young star player. Congrats Orioles fans!
As fans lets be excited but we may want to temper our enthusiasm on the idea that this is the beginning of the First Annual Extension Fest. There is some talk here about okay next Gunnar Jackson Westburg. Why this one first? I think its because it was the one that could be done for under 70M. But please let me be wrong and lets see some bigger deals soon and in free agency.
Is it me or am I missing something here. If the dude beast right now out the gate they are only picking up 2 free agent years and a club option on the third. So if and the big word is if he beasts the O’s will do okay, but if he flops in any way, O’s lose approx. 65 million.
So much risk with little reward. You would like to see 10 years 100 million with 2 club options for 12 years, if you are the O’s and you believe you got something special here, then you are paying now for later.
Maybe O’s are still thinking about how they missed out on the pre FA extension with the goofy 3rd baseman in San Diego.
I love the idea of clubs paying early to lock up young talent. I wish they would do more of it but it has to make sense. The clubs get control for 6 years. Probably no sense in discussing contracts until end of year 2.
Let’s assume arb salaries go up in 4 years – a modest Y1 of $4.5M, Y2 of $10.5M, and Y3 of $16M, that $31M in controlled salaries.
$36M remains and it’s $12M for each of his three free agent years.
Basallo now gets to be a free agent at age 29. He’s not signing for 12 years nor should he.
Its all subjective on what seems appealing. For me I absolutely love those two years. And the possibility of three. You think of guys who could be free agents. Would the Jays be happy to have Bichette locked up for 2 or 3 more years at a modest salary agreed to 5 years ago? Would they be happy to have had Vlad for two or three more years and postpone 475M? Would the Nats Padres or Yankees have been happy to have Soto under contract for this year and 2 more? Would the Astros have ever traded Kyle Tucker if they had him under control for 3 more years?
The thing that people forget with these Judge Soto contracts where people are getting paid 40+ million at 38 39 40 is that most of the time guys get worse at about age 33 and struggle to justify a large contract. When these guys can hit FA at 26 27 28 often a team wishes they could keep them just a little bit longer. But not for the 12 years the player wants. If FA comes at 30, 31, the team might be like, we got the great end of the deal, we got your best years cheap, best of luck out there.
Every team that signs these big free agent deals knows that they’re receiving surplus value in the beginning and a deficit towards the end. They stretch them out for cash flow and CBT tax reasons.
Really glad they did this, but seems like they robber Basallo.
Robbed
He could be the DH and still be a value stud
Like the Red Sox, the Orioles have also locked in a potential new franchise icon!
I guess they really believe in the bat. Catcher is the second least valued position on the roster behind the long reliever. Adley is the poster child of why clubs are hesitant to throw big money at the position. He’s slightly better than the either of the two options my cardinals throw out there any given day. But if you think you found one that can hit like a position player a la Kyle Schwarber, then you pay them and move them. I do think being a catcher and deminishes Rautchmans legs too much and his hitting suffers because of it.
Any Orioles fan can tell but what happened to them this last two years?
It smells like adley will be traded next year or before he hot free agency, if he is boras client it goodbye