A blueprint for a Drake Baldwin contract extension just dropped

The Braves have become notorious for extending their young talent early in order to lock them in at a more team friendly rate.

That methodology is not infallible — see Spencer Strider, who has not looked anything like the pitcher he once was after undergoing InternalBrace surgery last year. But more often than not, it has worked out in the Braves’ favor, making it likely they’ll continue to operate accordingly.

One of the next guys up could be NL Rookie of the Year candidate Drake Baldwin. He’s wasted no time making an impact, hitting .277 with 13 home runs and a 121 OPS+ (21% above league average) over his first 92 games. From a pure hitting perspective, Baldwin is already one of the best bats on the team, and he’s really shown some massive improvements behind the plate, proving to be an above average backstop defensively.

The Braves certainly don’t need to rush to get an extension done. Baldwin still has two more years left before he even becomes arbitration eligible, but if they did want to go ahead and lock him up for even longer, a blueprint just dropped for what that extension should look like.

On Friday, the Orioles inked prospect catcher Samuel Basallo to an eight-year, $67 million contract less than a week after calling him up.