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Baltimore Orioles Reportedly Interested in Contract Extensions For Young Stars

Originally posted on Fastball on SI | By Brady Farkas | Last updated Dec 8, 2023 8:00 AM ET

According to super-agent Scott Boras, the Baltimore Orioles are interested in giving long-term contract extensions to young stars Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday.

There's no real indication how serious talks have been or just how interested either side is at this time, but Boras says that the O's have broached the subject.

Per Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner:

Agent Scott Boras said the Orioles reach out about contract extensions for Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday “only once or twice a day.”

Boras: “Those kinds of things, obviously we listen, and Mike [Elias] and I talk a lot. Obviously, our job is to filter those phone calls and relay them to the player, and kind of discuss it and see if it’s something that the player himself is interested in.”

Boras: “Those kinds of things, obviously we listen, and Mike [Elias] and I talk a lot. Obviously, our job is to filter those phone calls and relay them to the player, and kind of discuss it and see if it’s something that the player himself is interested in.”
— Andy Kostka (@afkostka) December 6, 2023

First: There's no real rush to get either of these done. While there may be interest, Henderson has five years of team control remaining and Holliday hasn't even made his major league debut yet. There is plenty of time for contract extensions to happen over the next few years.

But while that's true, the O's may want to get things done sooner. By locking up players before they've had a chance to truly establish themselves, the team generally saves money in the long run. We just saw the Milwaukee Brewers lock up Jackson Chourio to an eight-year deal without him ever having played in a major league game.

Henderson is coming off a season in which he won the American League Rookie of the Year. Holliday is the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball.

The Orioles went 101-61 last season and won the American League East title.

This article first appeared on Fastball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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