The Red Sox made it official on Wednesday, announcing they’ve agreed to an eight-year contract extension with rookie infielder/outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela.
The extension covers the 2024-31 seasons and includes a club option for 2032. According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, the deal is worth $50 million guaranteed and the club option is worth $16 million and includes a $4 million buyout. Rafaela could also earn additional bonuses over the last few years of the deal if he achieves certain performance benchmarks.
With this deal the Red Sox extend their control over Rafaela for another two to three years, ensuring he remains a fixture of the organization for years to come. The deal also assures Rafaela and his family financial security for the rest of their lives, mitigating the risk that he could fail to establish himself as a big leaguer or that he could one day suffer a career-derailing injury.
The deal is now the latest pre-arbitration agreement struck between the Red Sox and one of their up-and-coming young players.
Earlier this spring the Red Sox reached a similar agreement with top starting pitcher Brayan Bello, who signed a six-year extension that will keep him in Boston through the rest of the decade. The club also signed right-hander Garrett Whitlock to a four-year extension in 2022, and the Red Sox are known to have engaged in discussions with other young players as well, including first baseman Triston Casas and right-hander Tanner Houck.
Rafaela, who is the youngest player on the Red Sox big league roster at 23, earned the starting center field job out of spring training and is viewed as a potential Gold Glove talent defensively. Rafaela is also a talented middle infielder and could potentially help fill the void left by the injured Trevor Story at shortstop, though Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Tuesday it would be hard to justify moving Rafaela off of center given his game-changing ability there.
