In a rare move for the Athletics franchise, the team came to terms on a 7 year, $65.5M contract extension with outfielder Lawrence Butler on Friday.
The deal, which is still pending a physical, now ties the 24 year old to the franchise for the foreseeable future, joining DH Brent Rooker as key pieces for the front office to build around. The right fielder’s deal is guaranteed through 2031, but also contains a club option for the 2032 MLB campaign.
Butler struggled during the first half of the season in 2024, but became one of the hottest hitters in all of baseball down the stretch. Demoted to Triple-A in May, the speedy outfielder returned on June 18th and posted a .291/.330/.565 slash line with 20 home runs and 15 stolen bases over 330 plate appearances.
The A’s, who will call Sacramento home for the next 3 years until their stadium in Las Vegas is complete, have uncharacteristically been spenders this offseason. In addition to the Rooker and Butler deals, the franchise also doled out $67M for RHP Luis Severino. Prior to that, the biggest contract in franchise history was a $66M pact given to Eric Chavez several decades prior.
The A’s finished 69-93 in 2024, good for 4th in the AL West, ahead of the Los Angeles Angels. With the AL West having no clear powerhouse in the division, Billy Beane & co. clearly believe that they can leap frog at least another divisional rival or two in 2025 if they stay healthy.
While it’s unlikely the club adds any premier arms over the next several weeks, a potential rotation of Severino, JP Sears, Jeffrey Spring, Joey Estes and Osvaldo Bido is a step forward from the group they trotted out in 2024.
Now fans will have to wait and see if the front office’s mild spending spree translates into wins when the Athletics kick off their regular season on March 27th against the Seattle Mariners.
Photo: Adam Moss. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.