9:10pm: The contract being discussed would guarantee Harris about $72MM, Heyman reports.
9:04pm: The Braves and rookie outfielder Michael Harris II are “deep” into negotiations on an eight-year contract extension, reports FanSided’s Robert Murray (Twitter link). Jon Heyman of the New York Post adds that the contract being discussed has an option for a ninth season.
The new collective bargaining agreement creates some interesting wrinkles for an extension scenario just such as this one. Harris has a strong chance of finishing first or second in National League Rookie of the Year voting — likely alongside teammate Spencer Strider — which would grant him a full year of service time for the 2022 season despite the fact that he won’t finish the year with the requisite 172 days on the Major League roster.
The start date of the contract, then, will prove all the more pivotal. If the contract begins in 2023 and Harris indeed gains a full year of service for the 2022 season based on Awards voting, the deal would technically be buying out his final five seasons of club control and lock in another three free-agent years (with an option for at least a fourth). If Harris slumps and winds up falling down the Rookie of the Year ballot, an eight-year deal beginning in 2023 would technically cover six years of club control and two free-agent seasons. In theory, that distinction should impact the pricing of the contract’s later years.
In the past, we’ve seen similar situations play out with regard to Super Two status. Chris Archer’s first extension with the Rays, for instance, contained two sets of potential salaries: one set in the event that he qualified as a Super Two player and another, smaller set in the event that he fell a bit shy of Super Two status. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, of course, but speculatively speaking, the Braves and Harris’ camp could explore some conditional salary structures based on this year’s Rookie of the Year voting.
Setting such intricacies aside, the extension for Harris, if completed, would continue an aggressive trend from an Atlanta front office that has been unafraid to pay sizable sums to its young stars early in their careers. Outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (eight years, $100MM) and second baseman Ozzie Albies (seven years, $35MM) both signed early, very club-friendly extensions that included a pair of club options beyond their guaranteed years. Acuna’s deal, like the one being discussed with Harris, was agreed upon before he even had a full year of Major League service time.
More recently, the Braves inked Matt Olson to an eight-year, $168MM extension the day after acquiring him in a five-player blockbuster with the A’s. And, this past summer, while so many teams were focused on the trade deadline in late July, the Braves hammered out a ten-year, $212MM extension for third baseman Austin Riley (before also making a handful of trades themselves, of course).
Harris, 21, was the No. 98 overall pick in the 2019 draft and bolstered his prospect stock with a torrid race through the minors that culminated in him skipping Triple-A entirely earlier this year. Despite being promoted right from Double-A, Harris hasn’t missed a beat. He’s logged 268 plate appearances in the Majors, tonight’s performance included, and turned in a robust .287/.325/.500 batting line with a dozen homers, 14 doubles, two triples and 13 steals (in 13 tries). Couple that production with plus center field defense, and it’s easy to see how the Braves have quickly become enamored of the dynamic young outfielder.
More to come.
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