A's agree to terms with OF Lawrence Butler on seven-year contract

MESA, Ariz. ¡ª The Athletics have agreed to terms with outfielder Lawrence Butler on a seven-year contract through the 2031 season with a club option for 2032, the club announced today.

Butler got off to a slow start last year as he was batting .179 with two home runs, eight RBI and a .529 OPS over his first 52 games through the end of June. He then hit .302 with 20 home runs, 49 RBI and a .943 OPS in 73 games over the final three months of the season. The 24-year-old left-handed hitter tied for sixth in the majors in extra base hits from July 1 through the end of the season (40), ranked eighth in slugging (.597), tied for ninth in home runs and runs (53), 10th in OPS and tied for 15th in RBI. Butler batted .262 with 22 home runs, 57 RBI and an .807 OPS in 125 games overall in his second season in the majors.

Butler was originally selected by the A¡¯s in the sixth round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of West Lake High School in Atlanta. He made his Major League debut in 2023, hitting .211 with four home runs and 10 RBI in 42 games, and is a .250 career hitter in 167 games with 18 stolen bases in 18 attempts. Butler played in the All-Star Futures Game in 2023 and won the Dernell Stenson Sportsmanship Award in the Arizona Fall League in 2022.

Butler is one of four A¡¯s players signed beyond the 2025 season. Brent Rooker is signed through 2029 with a club option for 2030. Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs are signed through 2026 with options for 2027. The A¡¯s also extended the contract of manager Mark Kotsay through 2028 with a club option for 2029 earlier this spring.