In a bit of stunning late night news, our A’s have made a major move, locking up Designated Hitter Brent Rooker to a massive five-year extension, per Ken Rosenthal:
Designated hitter/outfielder Brent Rooker in agreement with A’s on five-year, $60M extension, source tells @TheAthletic. Vesting option can take the deal to six years, $90M.
There is no one in baseball I would trust more than Ken so if he’s reporting this, it’s likely a done deal. We are still waiting on confirmation from the team as this point but should get that fairly soon. The deal as reported is a five-year, $60MM contract that also comes with a vesting option for a sixth year at a cost of $22MM.
This move locks in the Athletics’ best hitter for years to come. Rooker only just joined the club last season after a tough start to his career in Minnesota, San Diego and Kansas City. He has since become an All-Star (should have been a multi-All-Star after this last season) and has become an invaluable member of both the lineup and clubhouse. We’ve seen him blossom before our eyes into one of the best hitters in the American League, hitting .272/.348/.528 with 69 home runs over the past two seasons. He does it against both right-handed and left-handed pitching too and now we will be able to enjoy him all to ourselves for the next few years.
There was chatter at the start of the offseason that the club could be tempted to trade Rook but that’s out the window now. The club continues to suddenly be a big spender as the team continues to dish out money in an attempt to both return to contention and keep the Players Union off their back. After the Severino signing there was a feeling they needed to do more but have since added an expensive Jeffrey Springs, signed Gio Urshela, and extended Brent Rooker. They’ve been busy this offseason to say the least and could still dip into the free agent reliever market if they want to keep going.
If this deal holds up then Rooker will be in the Green & Gold by the time the team makes it to Las Vegas. He’ll have suited up for three cities in an A’s jersey and now looks like he’ll be apart of the next A’s playoff team. Hopefully that is sooner than later.
UPDATE: Athletics beat writer Martin Gallegos of MLB.com has since confirmed it:
Can confirm A’s have reached an agreement with Brent Rooker on a five-year, $60 million contract extension that keeps him with the club through the 2029 season. @Ken_Rosenthal was on it first.
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