Ronald Acuna, Atlanta Braves agree to 8 year deal, per report

Ronald Acuna and the Atlanta Braves are finalizing an 8 year, $100 million contract extension, per Jeff Passan on Twitter. Passan says the deal includes two club options, which presumably would make it potentially a ten year deal.

Acuna, 21, burst on the scene in 2018 with a scintillating campaign that saw him put up a .293/.366/.552 slash line in 111 games for the Braves, finishing first in the N.L. Rookie of the Year balloting and 12th in the N.L. MVP balloting. If this 8 year deal includes the 2019 season (Jon Heyman says it does), then the Braves are buying out a pair of free agent years, plus another possible two free agent years with the club options. Acuna would thus potentially be under team control through his age 30 season.

Given that Acuna would be slated to make around league minimum from 2019-2021, one could estimate the arbitration buyouts at $10 million, $15 million and $20 million, with the free agent years coming in at around $25 million per year, with the remainder of the $100 million coming from the club option buyouts, give or take.

UPDATE — The options are apparently $17 million per year with a total of a $10 million buyout, which means that the three arb years and two free agent years have a total salary of about $88 million, or a little over $17 million per year for the five years. Total payout if the options are exercised would be $124 million over ten years.