Butler agrees to 7-year, $65.5M extension with A's (source)

MESA, Ariz. -- The Athletics are embarking on a new era of baseball over the next few seasons, and they are enlisting Lawrence Butler as one of the franchise’s faces of that journey by locking up the right fielder to a seven-year contract extension.

Butler and the A’s have agreed to a seven-year contract worth $65.5 million with a club option for 2032, a source told MLB.com on Thursday night. The deal, which is pending a physical, has not been confirmed by the club.

The 24-year-old Butler emerged as a star for the A’s over the second half of 2024, slashing .302/.346/.597 (.943 OPS) with 20 home runs, 18 doubles, two triples, 49 RBIs and 14 stolen bases over his final 73 games. During that monster stretch, he joined Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner and Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts as only the third player age 24 or younger with multiple three-homer games in a season.

Though he was not eligible to hit free agency until 2029, the A’s were eager to commit to Butler now as a key player they could build around as they enter a new phase by temporarily relocating to Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento for the next three seasons before a planned move to a new ballpark in Las Vegas, which is expected to be ready by 2028 Opening Day.

From June 30 through the end of the 2024 season, Butler’s 167 wRC+ ranked eighth highest over that stretch. The seven players ahead of him? Juan Soto (174), Shohei Ohtani (181), teammate Brent Rooker (181), Yordan Alvarez (187), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (189), Bobby Witt Jr. (196) and Aaron Judge (225).

Butler now joins Rooker as core pieces of the A's future after Rooker signed a five-year, $60 million extension in January. The A’s also signed manager Mark Kotsay to a three-year extension with a club option for 2029 last month, which keeps him at the helm through the West Sacramento years and at least the team’s first season in Las Vegas.

A couple of weeks ago, Butler told MLB.com that he was hopeful to play his entire career in the green and gold. For at least the next seven years, he will have an opportunity to build that legacy he desires.

“I love the A’s,” Butler said. “They’re the team that gave me an opportunity as a young 17-year-old out of high school. I’m grateful for that opportunity and I’ve developed some of my best friendships here. … At the end of my career, I would love to have my jersey retired here and be talked about like Dave Stewart and Rickey Henderson. That would be amazing.”