Orioles locked in key parts of the future on Friday afternoon, signing rookie catcher Samuel Basallo Extended for eight years. The deal covers the 2026-33 season and comes with a 2034 club option, which is reportedly guaranteed $67mm for CAA baseball customers. Basallo celebrated his 21st birthday nine days ago, receiving a 5mm signing bonus and being able to get a contract for 88.5mm through various escalators. Baltimore has purchased at least two potential free agent seasons with a one-third option.
The salary breakdown is as follows:
- $1mm per year, between 2026-28
- 2029 4mm
- 2030 $7mm
- 2031 $11mm
- $15mm per year, between 2032-33
- 2034 $18MM Club Option ($7mm Acquisition)
This proves that Basallo is one of the most impressive prospects in the entire league. In the sport, he entered the sport’s top 15 prospects in the 2025 season, and has since improved only his stock after only slashed .270/.377/.589 (151 WRC+) in 76 games this season. He did all of this year when he was the youngest batsman in the International League. This sensational production didn’t make Basallo proven in the Bats side in Triple-A, and although he had barely started a hot start in his professional time, he scored a 10-10 three-pointer, run, five RBI, five hits, and a hit, a game in the Majors’ first 11 sets.
That being said, external prospect assessment services have raised questions about his ability to defend after the clock. Even GM Mike Elias himself admits that he felt the skills behind the plates needed more work before he came to the Grand Slam in June, although this fact is not only the fact that it has been called since then, but now it has been a huge expansion, which undoubtedly shows that Elias and other Orioles and other golden brasses like what they see. Just yesterday, Adley Rutschman Placed on the injured list due to the tilted strain, the secondary effect of this strain is to open up a lot of game time for Basallo, which is behind the plates behind the plates. This should give the Orioles a lot of opportunities to understand how he handles strict positions at the major league level and make informed decisions on how to use his use in 2026.
But whether it’s Basallo or behind a plate or behind first base, the deal is reasonable enough to make the Orioles happy with the investment. According to MLBTR’s contract tracker, Basallo’s 67mm guaranteed is the seventh highest number of 12 batsmen expanded with the club after its major league debut, but a year before reaching MLB service time. Two such players signed up for the expansion this year: #1 Total Outlook Roman Anthonyhe had 38 days of Major League Baseball service, when the Red Sox locked him in 130mm guarantee over eight seasons, while Anthony’s teammates Christian CampbellHe only had six days of MLB service, when he landed for eight years, a $60mm extension guaranteed him $59.2mm in new funding within seven years.
Basallo also signed an extension less than a week after his major league debut, and he received a contract that nearly beat Campbell in terms of overall assurance. Of course, it is somewhat fair to think that both Basallo and Campbell can sign pre-deferred renewals with a team of six players over the past decade, as both players signed up for expansion shortly after their MLB debut. After all, players like it Julio Rodriguez and Ronald Acuna Jr. Signed a nine-digit deal in the rookie season, but they can only continue to win their league Rookie of the Year award after they have accumulated over 100 days of MLB service and held a show. If compared with the debug group, only Jackson ChourioThe 82mm margin obtained from winemakers before the 2024 season is higher because Basallo Louis Robert Landing with the White Sox.
Because Basallo’s extension comes after his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut, he qualifies for the organization’s draft pick with the Prospect Promotion Incentive Award. Since Basallo made his debut in the 2025 season and couldn’t exhaust his rookie qualification, the Orioles could get a PPI draft pick if he earned a full year of service in 2026, and if he won the 2026 AL Rookie of the Year award, or he won the AL MVP award before him. Players who sign up for pre-extended such as Chourio are not eligible for PPI, but that is not the case for players who sign out extensions after MLB debuts. Bobby Witt Jr. and Corbin Carroll For example, even after signing the extension, they all included their teams in the PPI draft pick. At least reasonable, these rules about PPI draft picks led to Baltimore’s decision to wait until Basallo’s major league debut to finalize the expansion with the youngsters.
While Basallo’s guarantees aren’t a heavy lift even for low-spending clubs like the Orioles, the deal is certainly both exciting and encouraging for Baltimore fans. Previous star prospects are produced by farm systems such as Rutschman Gunnar Henderson Has developed into star players who were voted without signing a postponement, and the lack of postponement in the first wave of young people has led to pessimism in some circles as prospects that may extend the prospect from the next wave, e.g. Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo. Considering that Basallo’s deal is the first long-term extension for Orioles players, as they locked in Adam Jones Back in 2012, it has provided fans with much-needed assurances, and the organization is willing to devote itself to local talent for a long time.
Baltimore Flag Andy Kostka first reported that Orioles and Basallo are close to eight years, with a $67mm deal with club options and a maximum value of 88.5mm. Noah Trister of the Associated Press reported on a specific salary structure.
