SACRAMENTO ¨C Two years ago around this time, just a few weeks before the start of Spring Training, Brent Rooker picked up his phone and called his agent Dustin Bledsoe to weigh on a thought to potentially explore opportunities to play baseball in Japan.

By no means was this a crazy idea. Claimed off waivers by the Athletics from the Royals in November 2022, Rooker was about to join his fourth organization in a three years after limited playing time with Minnesota, San Diego and Kansas City. Interest from Japanese clubs was heavy, with offers far exceeding what he might get from the A¡¯s even if he did make the club.

Two years later, Rooker was proudly sitting alongside A¡¯s general manager David Forst and manager Mark Kotsay at a podium inside the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento on Thursday afternoon to officially announce his contract extension. The deal guarantees him $60 million over the next five years with a vesting club option for 2030 that could raise that total to $82 million across six years.

¡°It¡¯s been a whirlwind,¡± Rooker said. ¡°Two years ago, the conversations I was having with Dustin were, ¡®Hey, do we want to call David and ask for our release so we can try to go to Japan?¡¯ That was a very real consideration. Now, the conversation we were having was, ¡®Hey, David wants to give you $60 million. Do you want that or no?¡± I was like, ¡®Yeah, we should do that one.¡¯"

Rooker, who turned 30 in November, fought tooth and nail in a 2023 Spring Training roster battle just to make the A¡¯s Opening Day roster during the final week of camp. Since then, he has blossomed into one of the game¡¯s truly elite hitters, first earning an All-Star selection in ¡®23 and then taking his offensive game to another level last season by hitting .293 with a .927 OPS, 39 home runs and 112 RBIs.

He became the first A¡¯s player to win a Silver Slugger Award since Eric Chavez in 2002, the first A¡¯s player to finish a season with a batting average of at least .290, at least 30 home runs and at least 100 RBIs since Miguel Tejada¡¯s 2002 AL MVP campaign, and his 164 wRC+ ranked seventh among all Major League hitters, only trailing superstars Aaron Judge (218), Shohei Ohtani (181), Juan Soto (180), Yordan Alvarez (168), Bobby Witt Jr. (168) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (165).

Yet, as valuable as Rooker has been as a middle-of-the-order threat, his worth to the A¡¯s is almost equal in his clubhouse presence.

¡°In two years with the club, he¡¯s established himself both on and off the field as really the leader of this team and the face of our offense,¡± Forst said. ¡°Brent¡¯s impact in the clubhouse was apparent immediately when he got here.¡±

That leadership quality in Rooker was forged by his tumultuous journey. After becoming the second player in SEC history to win a Triple Crown during his college days at Mississippi State, he was drafted by the Twins in the first round in 2017, but his momentum stalled in the Minors. After his prospect hype hit a roadblock, he contemplated a stint overseas as a means of keeping his baseball dreams alive, but he took a flier on the A's and ultimately broke through and landed this multi-million dollar contract.

Rooker has truly been through it all, and he enjoys utilizing that wisdom as a resource for his younger teammates.

¡°I¡¯m in a unique position where, about every role you can have on a Major League team, I¡¯ve experienced it,¡± Rooker said. ¡°I look at the the younger guys, every single role they could be in, I¡¯ve experienced that in some capacity. Taking my experiences and pouring it into those guys to build as good of a team as we can possibly have moving forward is something I¡¯m going to take a lot of pride in.¡±

Furthermore, Rooker hopes his long-term deal sends a message around the league that despite the atypical situation the club finds itself in -- they will play at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento for the next three seasons before a planned relocation to Las Vegas in 2028 -- the A¡¯s are building an exciting young roster that aims to contend for the playoffs next season and beyond.

¡°This is where I want to be,¡± Rooker said. ¡°I hope this communicates that this organization is a very desirable place to play right now for a lot of reasons, mainly because of the group of people that we have involved on a day-to-day basis from top to bottom with this team. I love it here and I¡¯m excited for the next five years, hopefully six.¡±