Ronald Acuna signs extension 8 years $100mil

[ThisIsMyCrew]

“All in all, the Braves get Ronald Acuña Jr. for the next 10 years at a maximum of $124 million. It is the sort of deal teams dream of.” Jeff Passan

[mattyo]

He needs a new agent ASAP.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Fantastic deal, both for Acuna and the Braves - he'll get another shot at a FA deal or contract extension by the time he's 30. He isn't sacrificing any of his earning potential and just guaranteed himself 9 figures to play baseball as a 21-yr old.

[MVP2110]

I wonder if there is any thought within the org to do something like this with Hiura

[MrTPlush]

I wonder if there is any thought within the org to do something like this with Hiura

 

I wonder if Hiura ever plans on a 144 OPS+. He shoul probably hit MLB pitching before we hand him some huge deal. Hiura is good, but he could definitely fail bigtime.

[MrTPlush]

The way the landscape is changing for FA I wouldn't want to be hitting FA at 31. I can't figure it out with the details different in so many reports, but he just gave up like 5-6 FA years for this.

 

I won't call it a terrible deal for him because he is woefully unproven, but wow this could be a disastrous of a decision financially. I would have done a deal to buy out like two years of FA....not 5-6. That would have given him enough money to buy anything in Venezuela.

[wildcat83]

There seems to be a flurry of extensions coming, and a few are as early in careers as I have ever seen, like before MLB early in some cases. Is there something that teams are fearing from the new CBA that there seems to be such a rush to extend everyone?

[MrTPlush]

There seems to be a flurry of extensions coming, and a few are as early in careers as I have ever seen, like before MLB early in some cases. Is there something that teams are fearing from the new CBA that there seems to be such a rush to extend everyone?

 

Meh, the early extension are fairly normal...but I do think some guys a bit older are opting not to flirt with FA. Too big a risk with how shaky it has been two years in a row.

[JimH5]

Going from net worth of whatever Acuna has now up to $100 million, is huge for him, as it would be for any of us. But we just saw Machado and Harper and Trout sign deals that dwarf this by far.

 

The only thing he got with this deal is the certainty of the money. But if he becomes a star, he'll be regretting this for years.

[sveumrules]

The deal only covers four FA seasons & Acuna likely would've qualified for Super Two so he would have gotten four arbitration years instead of three.

 

I don't see how guaranteeing oneself 100 million dollars can be construed as a disastrous decision.

 

Sure, he may not have maximized his earning potential, but having a 100 million is hardly disastrous.

[Fear The Chorizo]

The deal only covers four FA seasons & Acuna likely would've qualified for Super Two so he would have gotten four arbitration years instead of three.

 

I don't see how guaranteeing oneself 100 million dollars can be construed as a disastrous decision.

 

Sure, he may not have maximized his earning potential, but having a 100 million is hardly disastrous.

 

I think he gets the best of both worlds with this deal - he essentially maximizes his earning potential during the next 5 seasons, and has guaranteed himself life-changing money. If he becomes a superstar, there's every reason to believe he'll be approached by the Braves to sign an extension that keeps him a Brave for life and pays him funny money well before he turns 30. You've got to remember, Acuna was still probably 2 full offseasons away from getting more than league minimum via his 1st of four more arbitration years. I get betting on yourself, but he went from essentially guaranteeing himself $1-2M dollars to ~$75M after one season in the bigs - these figures are stipulating that he'd suffer an unfortunate career-threatening/limiting injury sometime over the next few seasons that would lead to significantly reduced earning capacity and the Braves not being open to those two $17M options at the end of this extension.

 

Edit - obvious that the contract details are still being sorted out, as multiple sites are showing different things and the numbers I used above may be off - let's see what the actual contract gives him after he puts pen to paper...

 

Despite his promising rookie campaign, Acuna had an injury-plagued year in 2018, which included some scares with his knee and back, and that HBP against Urena and the Marlins during his HR streak. Financial security for a player in his position has significant value, and I'm sure those on-field injury scares impacted his camp's decision to sign something like this deal.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Going from net worth of whatever Acuna has now up to $100 million, is huge for him, as it would be for any of us. But we just saw Machado and Harper and Trout sign deals that dwarf this by far.

 

The only thing he got with this deal is the certainty of the money. But if he becomes a star, he'll be regretting this for years.

 

Where Machado, Harper, and Trout were in their careers when they signed these FA contracts/extensions and where Acuna is are not comparable. At all. And Acuna's deal actually pays him much more than any of what those players earned over their initial few big league seasons when they were making ~$550K, too.

[JimH5]

Going from net worth of whatever Acuna has now up to $100 million, is huge for him, as it would be for any of us. But we just saw Machado and Harper and Trout sign deals that dwarf this by far.

 

The only thing he got with this deal is the certainty of the money. But if he becomes a star, he'll be regretting this for years.

 

Where Machado, Harper, and Trout were in their careers when they signed these FA contracts/extensions and where Acuna is are not comparable. At all. And Acuna's deal actually pays him much more than any of what those players earned over their initial few big league seasons when they were making ~$550K, too.

 

Understood. And he wouldn't have signed the deal if he didn't think it was good. And if there's a strike coming after the 2021 season, it will have been better to have earned $30 million+ from 2019-2021 than the MLB minimum.

 

But, he appears to be a generational talent. And teams are currently paying those guys $30+ million per year. So the 28-30 yo Acuna is likely to be a tremendous bargain.

[xisxisxis]

I used to have the tagline "it's better to remain silent and be thought an idiot than to speak and remove all doubt."

 

Welcome to the Idiot Club, Jeff Passan...

[adambr2]

For those of you who think this is a bad deal, a question for you:

 

Would you rather have a 100% chance at 100 million dollars, or a 60% chance at 300 million?

 

Ronald Acuna and his family are set up for life. It's not always "what can I do to maximize my lifetime net worth." Sometimes it's just "how can I get the rest of my life figured out, remove the uncertainty and stress and be happy."

[xisxisxis]

But, he appears to be a generational talent. And teams are currently paying those guys $30+ million per year. So the 28-30 yo Acuna is likely to be a tremendous bargain.

I really don't know what a generational talent looks like. I know that's been thrown around about Manny Machado and Bryce Harper. I'd lean toward saying I agree with the Machado tag, but I don't think Harper meets that tag. Going from players who have 6-7 years of production and saying Acuna has generational talent seems to me to be a big stretch. Yes he's young and put up a great season, but you don't have to look any farther back than 2010 on these same Braves to see a player who had a breakout first campaign and was touted as a "generational talent". I'm referring to Jason Heyward. How many people (other than his agent) would argue he's a generational talent now? To me it's longevity at an elevated level and there's a huge club of players that started out of the gate like they were the next Secretariat and ended up last across the finish line... If Acuna continues, yep, he will be a huge discount, if he doesn't or he has a serious injury that impacts his performance long-term then he's already setup for life and the after-life...

[Fear The Chorizo]

Am I reading this right, that Acuna's $100M extension is for 8 seasons that goes through the 2026 season? Then, the Braves have two additional option years for 2027 and 2028 at $17M per, or if they want they would pay Acuna $10M to opt out of those options?

 

If that's the case, this $100M extension only extends Acuna past what would have been his first two free agent seasons (2025 and 2026) - the additional two options years make it a 10yr, $134M commitment. It's crazy to think that even after 10 more seasons, Acuna will still only be 30-31 years old, and likely in a position for another significant payday if the Braves don't restructure before then.

 

For perspective, Manny Machado will have earned $124M as a player his first 9 years in the majors after the 2021 season ends - that includes the first three seasons of the deal he just signed with the Padres making $30M a season through 2021. Machado will make much more than Acuna will during years 7-11 of their respective careers (especially if Acuna "only" makes $34M total during his 2027 and 2028 seasons assuming the Braves string it all the way out through those options) - however Acuna has received his guaranteed windfall much earlier in his career and could easily land another huge deal down the road.

[JimH5]

For those of you who think this is a bad deal, a question for you:

 

Would you rather have a 100% chance at 100 million dollars, or a 60% chance at 300 million?

 

Ronald Acuna and his family are set up for life. It's not always "what can I do to maximize my lifetime net worth." Sometimes it's just "how can I get the rest of my life figured out, remove the uncertainty and stress and be happy."

 

By the math, a 60 percent chance at $300 million is worth $180 million.

 

I can see why someone would sign the deal. But it's still worth much less than he could earn taking the other route. The Braves are delighted to do this.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I get it, but I have to laugh at the thought he'll "regret it" if he's a superstar in three years. It is $100 million, how much can you regret it?

[adambr2]

For those of you who think this is a bad deal, a question for you:

 

Would you rather have a 100% chance at 100 million dollars, or a 60% chance at 300 million?

 

Ronald Acuna and his family are set up for life. It's not always "what can I do to maximize my lifetime net worth." Sometimes it's just "how can I get the rest of my life figured out, remove the uncertainty and stress and be happy."

 

By the math, a 60 percent chance at $300 million is worth $180 million.

 

I can see why someone would sign the deal. But it's still worth much less than he could earn taking the other route. The Braves are delighted to do this.

 

Less than he COULD. How much is the certainty worth to him?

 

How much is it worth that he can map out the rest of his life now knowing what he'll have? How much is it worth that he can just go enjoy the game he loves to play for the next 8 years and not worry about what will happen if he doesn't perform? How much stress does it add to the life of a pre-arbitration player when you get into a slump, you haven't gotten a long-term deal and you start to question if maybe you're not as good as you thought? How much sleep does it cost you and how much do you press and worry about it?

 

Is his life really going to be of less quality and happiness if he has to retire in 8 years with 100M and could have earned 300M if he had played his cards right?

 

There are so many more intangibles at play than just "this is what the chance is worth at this percent because this is the potential dollar amount."

[dlk9s]

I wonder if there is any thought within the org to do something like this with Hiura

 

lolwat

[MrTPlush]

Yah he is going to regret it if he ends up a superstar and could have made $100mil+ or more. It’s all subjective to your lifestyle. It’s like if you had some collectable that you sold for $50k and in 3 years you would have been able to get $150k. That extra $100k would keep you up at night or atleast highly regret your decision.

 

The comparison also isn’t extreme risk going year to year or this deal. He could have easily not sacrificed all those free agency years and instead gotten slightly less to save some of his free agency. Now he has to hit FA at 31 (if he is a superstar and worth picking up the options). The way FA is going these days...not the safest bet for another major deal.

 

Also no one is considering if he is a super star until 28 or so and then quickly declines. Then by the time he hits FA he isn’t even that good anymore. At 27 he could have had the mega mega deal, but not anymore. Not common, but could certainly happen.

 

At the end of the day can’t fault someone for taking $100mil, but it definitely could turn out badly for him.

[adambr2]

Yah he is going to regret it if he ends up a superstar and could have made $100mil+ or more. It’s all subjective to your lifestyle. It’s like if you had some collectable that you sold for $50k and in 3 years you would have been able to get $150k. That extra $100k would keep you up at night or atleast highly regret your decision.

 

The comparison also isn’t extreme risk going year to year or this deal. He could have easily not sacrificed all those free agency years and instead gotten slightly less to save some of his free agency. Now he has to hit FA at 31 (if he is a superstar and worth picking up the options). The way FA is going these days...not the safest bet for another major deal.

 

Also no one is considering if he is a super star until 28 or so and then quickly declines. Then by the time he hits FA he isn’t even that good anymore. At 27 he could have had the mega mega deal, but not anymore. Not common, but could certainly happen.

 

At the end of the day can’t fault someone for taking $100mil, but it definitely could turn out badly for him.

 

First of all neither 50K nor 150K will set me up for life. That's the biggest difference, either 100M or 300M is life changing money. If I sold that collectable for 100M and someone else flipped it for 300M in a few years I would be just fine.

 

Going year to year is still a huge risk, he's only making near league minimum for 3 years, more than enough time to end up either with a career ending injury or somehow end up a bust.

 

Also you don't know that the Braves had any interest in a deal without buying out some FA. That's the whole benefit for them. If Acuna wouldn't do it, they might have rather just gone year to year.

 

Yes the odds of him getting a big deal are better at 28 than 31 but that difference doesn't prevent him from necessarily getting another great deal in his 30s like guys such as Goldschmidt, JD Martinez, Cain, etc, have all gotten.

[MrTPlush]

Yah he is going to regret it if he ends up a superstar and could have made $100mil+ or more. It’s all subjective to your lifestyle. It’s like if you had some collectable that you sold for $50k and in 3 years you would have been able to get $150k. That extra $100k would keep you up at night or atleast highly regret your decision.

 

The comparison also isn’t extreme risk going year to year or this deal. He could have easily not sacrificed all those free agency years and instead gotten slightly less to save some of his free agency. Now he has to hit FA at 31 (if he is a superstar and worth picking up the options). The way FA is going these days...not the safest bet for another major deal.

 

Also no one is considering if he is a super star until 28 or so and then quickly declines. Then by the time he hits FA he isn’t even that good anymore. At 27 he could have had the mega mega deal, but not anymore. Not common, but could certainly happen.

 

At the end of the day can’t fault someone for taking $100mil, but it definitely could turn out badly for him.

 

First of all neither 50K nor 150K will set me up for life. That's the biggest difference, either 100M or 300M is life changing money. If I sold that collectable for 100M and someone else flipped it for 300M in a few years I would be just fine.

 

Going year to year is still a huge risk, he's only making near league minimum for 3 years, more than enough time to end up either with a career ending injury or somehow end up a bust.

 

Also you don't know that the Braves had any interest in a deal without buying out some FA. That's the whole benefit for them. If Acuna wouldn't do it, they might have rather just gone year to year.

 

Yes the odds of him getting a big deal are better at 28 than 31 but that difference doesn't prevent him from necessarily getting another great deal in his 30s like guys such as Goldschmidt, JD Martinez, Cain, etc, have all gotten.

 

a) You missed the point. And you are in the minority if that doesn’t bother you...though you are lying even if you don’t realize it. Your nothing burger current state (compared to millions of dollars) makes you just happy at the thought of $100mil. However in reality once you get used to your new lifestyle the thought of $200mil and all you could do with it would make you very upset. Who is okay missing out on $200mil?

 

b) I never said that, so that is good

 

c) I never proposed that, so that is definitely good. I said buy out 2 years of FA, not the 4-6 he gave up. They would have 100% made a deal that bought out at least 2 years of FA and he is set for life.

 

d) A new CBA could greatly suck money out of 30+ year olds. Players want money earlier, especially now that it isn’t flowing out to 30+ guys on the decline. I would not be confident get a big long payday at 30+ when that time comes. Too much uncertainty.

[adambr2]

No, you missed my point. At some point, I can be happy with the life I have knowing I simply don't have to work. If it would mentally affect your happiness to "lose" 200M when you already have 100M....that's fine. It doesn't apply to all of us. It has nothing to do with my "nothing burger state." It has to do with being comfortable in the knowledge that I can spend the rest of my life with freedom and take care of my family, and after that point, it's just a number to me as I have no desire for a super rich lifestyle.

 

Please don't tell me "you are lying" in regard to that, I'm well aware of my own mental state and how I would handle complete financial freedom.