The Atlanta Braves seem wiser after looking at the contract extension the Boston Red Sox offered Rafael Devers.
The Boston Red Sox haven’t made their fanbase too happy all season. Specifically, they couldn’t give Xander Bogaerts an acceptable contract offer. Then, after negotiating with him at the MLB Winter Meetings, the San Diego Padres swooped in with an 11-year, $280 million contract extension. Bogaerts accepted.
For the Red Sox, they found a way to prevent another of their homegrown talents from leaving. On Wednesday, Red Sox and third baseman Rafael Devers agreed to terms for an 11-year, $331 million contract extension. This came one day after the two parties avoided arbitration with a one-year, $17.5 million contract.
This deal makes the Atlanta Braves look the wiser by securing their third star player, Austin Riley, much earlier.
The Braves look smarter after extending Rafael Devers’ contract
The Braves have shown in recent years that they aren’t afraid of locking up their young players to long-term contracts. This is evident in the contracts they awarded to quarterback Ronald Acuna Jr., starting pitcher Spencer Stryder, and quarterback Michael Harris II. One of the big contract extensions the Braves made was the signing of Riley.
The third baseman was not eligible to hit free agency until after the 2025 season. General Manager Alex Anthopoulos decided in 2022 that it was time to ensure Riley didn’t come close to the open market. Therefore, they successfully negotiated a 10-year contract extension worth $212 million.
This was quite the win for Atlanta. Just take a look at the players under the club’s control for the foreseeable future, courtesy of ESPN’s Jeff Bassan.
Last season, Riley posted a . 273 batting average, . 349 on-base, . 528 slugging percentage, 38 home runs, 93 RBI, 168 hits, and 368 total bases in 159 games played.
While Red Sox fans breathed a sigh of relief that the team was able to re-sign Devers before he reached free agency, the Braves made sure they never got too close by agreeing to settle with Riley even though there were three more seasons of arbitration left. .
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