Less than a week after Samuel Basallo made his major league debut, the Orioles made the kind of long-term commitment to an exciting homegrown player for which fans have long been clamoring.
No, it isn’t a $400 million contract extension for Gunnar Henderson, but it’s a meaningful step in the right direction.
One that really needed to happen.
Baltimore signed Basallo to an eight-year, $67 million contract through the 2033 season that includes a $5 million signing bonus, a club option for 2034, and a maximum value of $88.5 million, according to ESPN. If the 21-year-old catcher and first baseman proves to be anywhere close to as good as so many expect him to be, the Orioles essentially just bought out the first few years of his free agency for what could be a massive discount. Long-term deals always carry risk, of course, but this one looks more than prudent. On the flip side, a prospect with just 15 major league plate appearances entering the weekend now has guaranteed long-term wealth for himself and his family, regardless of what money he could be leaving on the table come 2032 if he blossoms into a superstar.
It’s the first long-term extension given to a homegrown Oriole since Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts signed deals more than 16 years ago. Of course, Baltimore also gave a six-year, $85.5 million contract to a 26-year-old Adam Jones in 2012, but he was acquired from Seattle very early in his major league career before becoming arguably the most important and beloved Oriole since Cal Ripken.
In other words, we haven’t seen an Orioles contract like this in a very long time, especially for someone who hasn’t yet hit his first major league homer.
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There are no shortage of questions and interpretations — some more astute than others — stemming from this signing, but make no mistake that this is a great move by general manager Mike Elias and the Orioles. It’s something that was necessary for an ownership group and front office that have done a poor job galvanizing the fan base over this last calendar year. At the very least, this should help soften some of the backlash from fans over the recent changes made to season-ticket plans.
“We are thrilled to agree with Samuel long term and are delighted about what this means for him and his family,” Elias said in statement. “His debut and this extension are big achievements for our organization, beginning with the work of our international scouting staff and carried forward successfully by our entire player development operation. I thank the ownership group, led by David Rubenstein, for supporting our investment in Samuel as we pursue consistent success on the field, now and in the future.”
Where the Orioles go from here remains to be seen after this disappointing 2025 campaign, but Basallo now being under club control for nearly a decade should help the vibes as well as the baseball.
Are other extensions on the way?
Only time — and gobs of money — will tell, but Basallo was always going to top the list of the most likely extension candidates as a former international signing who doesn’t employ Scott Boras as his agent. Though he received a $1.3 million signing bonus as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic, Basallo is obviously a different case than fellow 21-year-old Jackson Holliday, who grew up wealthy as the son of an All-Star major league outfielder and received an $8.19 million signing bonus as the first overall pick of the 2022 draft.
If Elias realistically could have signed any other members of the young core — at least the ones you’d actually want to extend right now — to this type of extension, it would have already happened.
What does this mean for two-time All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman?
8Probably very little since many remain skeptical about Basallo being a full-time catcher for the long haul, and every team needs two catchers anyway. Under club control through 2027, the 27-year-old Rutschman remains the superior defensive catcher by a distinct margin, but increasing durability concerns and a poor .212/.296/.335 slash line at the plate since July 1, 2024 are much bigger factors impacting his long-term future in Baltimore than Basallo’s extension. It’s also not a secret that the Orioles drafted two college catchers — Ike Irish and Caden Bodine — with their first two picks in this year’s draft.
While the total dollars of this contract are unlikely to move the likes of Henderson, Holliday, and Jordan Westburg to immediately beg for their own extensions with the Orioles, it’s a sign that this organization is indeed open to rewarding their young players and keeping them in Baltimore beyond their cheapest years of club control. You can’t have multiple extensions until you have the first one.
And Orioles fans now know they can invest in a Basallo jersey, which isn’t unimportant in the wake of enduring this recent trade deadline and years of an organization preaching delayed gratification in an unsentimental way.
