Birdland, it’s finally here. The day we’ve dreamed of.
No, the Orioles didn’t win a World Series, or even a playoff game. Those dreams are still on hold.
But since the rebuild began, we’ve waited for Mike Elias to ink one of the team’s young stars to an contract extension. We’ve hoped for Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, even Grayson Rodriguez at times. But as the years dragged on, it seemed like it would never happen. The Orioles hadn’t handed out a single multi-year deal at all under Elias until Tyler O’Neill‘s three-year (player option) contract last winter. I can’t find it at the moment, but I remember reading that they’d been the only team in all of MLB to not reach terms on a pre-arbitration contract extension with a single player in the years since he took over for Dan Duquette.
Today, we got word, first via The Banner’s Andy Kostka, that the O’s and Samuel Basallo are closing in on an eight-year extension for $67M, with an option for 2034.
That’s another near-decade of Basallo Bombs, Baltimore.
The Orioles and catcher Samuel Basallo are closing in on an eight-year contract extension worth $67 million with an option for 2034, per source.
Escalators based on awards and playing time at catcher max out at $88.5 million, source said
— Andy Kostka (@afkostka) August 22, 2025
Many had predicted that, of the young core, Basallo may have been the first to sign. Latin players seem more amenable to pre-arbitration extension in general, plus you had the factor of him not being represented by Scott Boras, as so many of the other Orioles are.
The 21-year-old nearly hit his first MLB home run last week in Houston, but was robbed at the wall. As our Will WC detailed a few weeks ago, his bat has BEEN MLB-ready, and is still underrated.
Reports are that there are escalators in the contract for playing time at catcher…
Samuel Basallo, Orioles agree to $67M over 8 years extension with an option for 2034
Escalators based on awards and playing time at catcher with max of $88.5M
Record pre arbitration deal for catcher @afkostka 1st with news
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 22, 2025
…which I admittedly don’t love. Unless, of course, they put them in there with no designs on actually playing him at catcher that much. While having a mashing backstop is always a bonus, haven’t we done this enough with Matt Wieters and now Rutschman? The Salvadore Perez’s of the world are few and far between, and I would much rather have Basallo focus on hitting and play 150+ games at 1B/DH than have to worry about all the physical and mental rigors that go with being an MLB catcher.
But that’s an argument for another day. As is lamenting that it will take 4-7x this much money to sign some of the other guys.
For now, let’s celebrate that the “Orioles will never sign any young player to an extension!” narrative can be put to bed.
