The Athletics have been among Major League Baseball’s lowest-spending teams for the better part of the past two decades. While that mostly remains to be true now, they have still spent quite a bit this offseason and made another big investment on Thursday night when they reportedly agreed to terms on a contract extension for another core player.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the A’s and outfielder Lawrence Butler are in agreement on a seven-year, $66.5 million contract extension with one club option.
Butler was one of the bright spots on the A’s during the 2024 season thanks to a breakout rookie season that saw him hit 22 home runs in 412 at-bats, finish as a 3.0 WAR player and post an OPS+ of 131 (with 100 being league average).
Butler is only 24 years old and figures to still have his best days ahead of him. He is now locked in as a cornerstone player.
He joins Brent Rooker, who also signed a five-year, $60 million extension this offseason. The Rooker deal came after the A’s signed free-agent starting pitcher Luis Severino to a three-year, $67 million. which is the largest guaranteed deal in the history of the franchise.
It is a big deal for the A’s from a baseball perspective, but it also must be frustrating for the fans the franchise left behind in Oakland when they relocated. After years of penny-pinching and not spending, the A’s waited until they left Oakland to start spending some real cash like a real MLB team.
They are still near the bottom of the list, but there is at least some sort of an effort.
The A’s are going to play in Sacramento for the next couple of seasons before eventually moving to a permanent home in Las Vegas.