Yet another young player has agreed to a long-term extension just days into his major league career. AndKevin McGonigle might be the bestbet of the bunch.
McGonigle punctuated his loud debut with theDetroit Tigersby signing an eight-year, $150 million extension Wednesday, April 15, the club announced. The extension begins next year and runs through 2034.
Assuming McGonigle is not demoted to the minor leagues, the deal buys out his first three years of free agency. It includes a $14 million signing bonus, the club announced, and will peak with $23 million salaries in 2032, 2033 and 2034; performance escalators can boost the value of those final three years by up to $10 million.
It's a virtually risk-free bet for the Tigers, who will pay McGonigle, 21, an average of $18.75 million in that span. The early returns suggest the infielder will outperform the terms of his new deal: McGonigle debuted with a four-hit game, is batting .311 with a .417 on-base percentage and .908 OPS and ranks fourth among among AL position players with 1.1 WAR through 17 games.
His underlying statistics are perhaps even more encouraging. McGonigle ranks in the 98th percentile in baserunning value and the 95th percentile with an 11.1% strikeout rate. While his average exit velocity (88.1 mph) and bat speed (71.4 mph) are in the 34th and 39th percentiles, respectively, both metrics should improve as McGonigle - who turns 22 in August - adds strength to his 5-9, 187-pound frame.
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McGonigle could have become a free agent at age 27, still the relative prime for a position player, and should he remain on this arc, likely could have exceeded his average annual value in his final two years of arbitration. As a comparison, Bo Bichette, 28, received a $42 million annual salary from the New York Mets on a three-year guarantee this past winter.
Kevin McGonigle contract is latest MLB extension
Yet McGonigle receives significant financial security and the knowledge he's firmly established as the Tigers' franchise cornerstone. He joins the Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin (nine years, $140 million) as well as two players who have yet to make their major league debuts - Seattle's Colt Emerson (eight years, $95 million) and Milwaukee's Cooper Pratt (eight years, $50.75 million) as rookies signing long-term deals just after or before their careers begin.
The Tigers are well-versed in this market: They signed infielder Colt Keith to a six-year, $31.64 million deal that also includes three club options before Keith's 2024 debut. He's been a useful player in his first three seasons, and at $4.3 million this season, hardly busts their budget.
McGonigle will follow a similar path - yet the Tigers are quite confident they'll get significant bang for their guaranteed bucks.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Kevin McGonigle contract extension: Tigers sign rookie for $150 million