April 10: The Purple Sox have introduced Rafaela’s extension. It’s an eight-year deal overlaying the 2024-31 seasons and likewise comprises a beforehand unreported membership possibility for a ninth season in 2032.
Alex Speier of the Boston Globe stories the annual breakdown. Rafaela receives a $2MM signing bonus earlier than incomes salaries of $1MM in 2024, $1MM in 2025, $2MM in 2026, $3.5MM in 2027, $5.5MM in 2028, $7.5MM in 2029, $10.5MM in 2030 and $13MM in 2031. The membership possibility is valued at $16MM and comes with a $4MM buyout.
April 8: The Purple Sox have agreed to an extension with outfielder/second baseman Ceddanne Rafaela, stories Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. It’s an eight-year, $50MM pact for the MVP Sports activities Group shopper, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (as relayed by Ian Browne of MLB.com). Rafaela is the second younger, core participant the staff has locked up prior to now few weeks; Boston additionally signed righty Brayan Bello to a six-year, $55MM deal in late March.
Rafaela, 23, has ranked among the many sport’s prime 100 prospects coming into every of the previous two seasons. He made his huge league debut in 2023 gained the middle discipline job in Boston with a robust spring exhibiting in 2024. By way of his first 124 huge league plate appearances, Rafaela is a .239/.282/.389 hitter, although his minor league monitor file options way more promising numbers. Rafaela break up the vast majority of the 2023 marketing campaign between Double-A and Triple-A, the place he logged a mixed .302/.349/.520 slash with 20 homers, 31 doubles, three triples and 36 stolen bases (in 49 tries).
Listed at simply 5’9″ and 152 kilos, Rafaela is small in stature however definitely not quick on expertise. Scouting stories laud him as a possible plus middle fielder; Baseball America and MLB.com each name him a Gold Glove-caliber defender there, and The Athletic’s Keith Regulation wrote that Rafaela “has an opportunity to be probably the most invaluable outfield defender in baseball” when rating him thirty second amongst all MLB prospects this spring. Rafaela {couples} that defensive upside with plus pace and sufficient energy to venture for double-digit dwelling runs within the huge leagues, even when he’s extra of a niche hitter than a real slugger.
Whereas Rafaela struck out as a typically manageable 21% clip within the higher minors final season, he doesn’t have a very affected person strategy on the plate. He walked in simply 5.4% of his plate appearances final season — his second straight minor league marketing campaign with a stroll price round 5%. He’s drawn a free move in simply 4.8% of his huge league plate appearances up to now. Barring an evolution in his strategy on the dish, Rafaela may submit middling on-base percentages within the majors, however his defensive prowess, pace and energy contributions ought to offset any potential OBP deficiency.
As proven in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the pre-arbitration extensions for Rafalea and Bello mark a notable change in philosophy from a Purple Sox membership that has eschewed long-term offers for gamers who’re comparatively unproven within the huge leagues. From 2012 by means of 2021, the Purple Sox didn’t give out a single pre-arb extension. Their 2022 cope with righty Garrett Whitlock (4 years, $18.75MM with two membership choices) was their first extension for a participant previous to arbitration eligibility since Clay Buchholz method again in 2011.
The Sox haven’t shied away from extensions fully, however long-term offers for Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Chris Sale and Rick Porcello have been far costlier offers that got here after these gamers had solidified themselves as huge leaguers price annual values of $20MM or extra. Even the unique Bogaerts deal, which was thought-about wildly club-friendly, was valued at six years and $120MM.
Maybe the eventual lack of Bogaerts, coupled with high-profile departures of Mookie Betts, Jon Lester and others through the years, pushed Sox possession to turn into extra aggressive on early-career extensions. Perhaps they’ve turn into more and more dissatisfied with dear free-agent offers that haven’t gone to plan (e.g. Trevor Story, David Value, Lucas Giolito). Or maybe they merely seemed on the rising worth for younger expertise across the league and opted to turn into extra proactive. Regardless of the motive, they’re starting to lock up some promising and reasonably priced contributors to hitch Devers in comprising the long-term core.
Rafaela is only one of a number of extension candidates on the Purple Sox, and with two offers now hammered out, it appears more and more believable others may but comply with. Most notably, first baseman Triston Casas and righty Tanner Houck have each spoken about their openness to extensions. Different pre-arb gamers who may feasibly be thought-about for long-term offers embody left fielder Jarren Duran and righty Kutter Crawford.