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Jeff PassanESPN
The Atlanta Braves and Ronald Acuna Jr. have agreed to terms on an eight-year, $100 million extension that will keep the star outfielder under contract through the 2026 season.
The record-setting deal, announced Tuesday, includes club options for the 2027 and 2028 seasons.
The options are each worth $17 million, and the deal also includes a $10 million buyout of the option years, sources told ESPN.
Acuna, 21, becomes the youngest player in baseball history to sign a contract worth at least $100 million.
If the Braves choose to exercise both options, they would have Acuna under contractual control through his age-30 season. Acuna was set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024.
The deal marks a significant financial commitment by the Braves, who have signed just one other player, star first baseman Freddie Freeman, to a nine-figure contract in the franchise’s history.
Freeman signed an eight-year, $135 million extension before the 2014 season.
Acuna won the National League Rookie of the Year award last season, batting .293 with 26 home runs and 64 RBIs.
He was one of only seven players with 25 home runs in a season before turning 21 (but the fastest to reach the mark, in 92 games), along with Mel Ott, Frank Robinson, Tony Conigliaro, Al Kaline, Orlando Cepeda and Eddie Mathews. Only Conigliaro is not in the Hall of Fame.
The Braves originally signed Acuna out of Venezuela when he was 16, as an international free agent. He was ranked as Keith Law’s No. 1 prospect heading into last season.