Probably right along the lines of what I posted for his arb salaries with $5M moved up front via the signing bonus. The options will also have buyouts that bring the guarantee over $65M.
I'd be surprised if Acuna settles for 2 option years (I think 1 will have to be guaranteed), but something like this:
2019 (21): $6M (pre-arb 2, includes $5M signing bonus)
2020 (22): $3M (pre-arb 3)
2021 (23): $8M (arb 1)
2022 (24): $12M (arb 2)
2023 (25): $16M (arb 3)
2024 (26): $20M (arb 4)
2025 (27): $25M-$30M option, $1M-$5M buyout
2026 (28): $25M-$30M option, $1M-$5M buyout
I would be strongly in favor of using present day "flexibility" to lock up control over 1-2 of Acuna's FA years.
jpx7 (03-21-2019), Southcack77 (03-21-2019)
jpx7 (03-21-2019)
Yeah, that's where the negotiating is going to happen.
I think 6/60-6/70 for the control years is pretty well established.
The part left to settle is the FA years, and how many. The Braves will obviously want as many options as possible, while Acuna will want as much guaranteed as possible while still hitting the FA market at a young age.
Maybe they settle in the middle where the 1st FA year is guaranteed at $25M with an escalator, and the 2nd is a $30M option with $5M buyout.
Either way, this is something that needs to happen if Acuna is at all receptive. It's entirely possible he may decide to go year to year and push for record setting arb numbers, and then hit FA as the next Harper/Machado in line for $400M.
jpx7 (03-21-2019)
Bregman is guaranteed $28.5M in each of the 2 FA seasons his new extension covers.
This helps further frame an Acuna extension, and is why I don't think he will settle for $25M options at the end of any extension he signs.
Not really. Acuna was going to hit arb 4 times to reach that $60M+ figure. Bregman was only going to hit arb 3 times, and could likely expect something like 10, 15, 20 for a total of ~$45M.
Further, Acuna is going to hit his first arb hearing with an NL ROY award, and counting stats that will likely be higher than what Bregman would likely have brought to the table. Those things are highly valued in arb hearings.
These contracts are just as much about projecting arbitration earnings as they are about valuing FA years.
Last edited by Enscheff; 03-21-2019 at 01:47 PM.
jpx7 (03-21-2019)
Last edited by nsacpi; 04-02-2019 at 12:58 PM.
"I am a victim, I will tell you. I am a victim."
"I am your retribution."
The 8/100 portion was pretty much expected, and is almost exactly what happened. I detailed that several times in this thread.
The crazy portion is the 2 option years at $17M each. I have no idea why Acuna agreed to that, but those option years push this from good to great for the Braves.
Its almost beyond belief how good those extra two years are for the Braves in my opinion. It might be the best extension I've ever seen for a team, considering what we are expecting of Acuna. If he is a 5 win player over those 10 years, we're talking about a obscene amount of surplus value.
What's even more insane is the options are only $17M each. Something terribly unfortunate will have to happen for the Braves to not pick up a $17M option on Acuna in his late 20s when the buyout is already $10M.
The first 8 years are reasonable extension terms, it's the 2 option years he gave up just to push the guarantee over $100M that has knowledgeable folks scratching their heads.
This extension has quite possibly propped the Braves window of contention open for the next 10 years if they can build around a 4-5 win player making peanuts for the next decade.
jpx7 (04-02-2019)
Not only that, but the extremely cheap option years at the end of the deal give the Braves a lot of leverage to extend him again into his early 30s again at bargain rates.
When Acuna looks around and sees other players of his caliber making $30M+ per year while he’s making $17M, he may sign away some of his early decline years in order to renegotiate those option years.
jpx7 (04-02-2019), UNCBlue012 (04-02-2019)