Red Sox make Ceddanne Rafaela contract extension official
The Red Sox made the contract extension for Ceddanne Rafaela official, announcing the deal in a press release on Wednesday.
The contract is for eight years and $50 million, and it also includes a previously unreported option year for 2032, making the deal potentially worth nine years.
Rafaela will receive a $2 million signing bonus, he will be paid $1 million in 2024, $1 million in 2025, $2 million in 2026, $3.5 million in 2027, $5.5 million in 2028, $7.5 million in 2029, $10.5 million in 2030, and $13 million in 2031. His option year is worth $16 million, and it includes a $4 million buyout.
Rafaela is the second young player on the Red Sox roster to agree to a long-term contract extension this spring. Boston signed starter Brayan Bello to a six-year, $55 million deal in March. Both Sam Kennedy and Craig Breslow have said the organization’s goal is to extend some of the young core on the roster. In the past, the Red Sox failed to execute on this practice, which resulted in Mookie Betts being traded to the Dodgers and Xander Bogaerts bolting for the Padres in free agency.
The 23-year-old Rafaela is still pretty raw from a major league perspective; he only appeared in 28 games last season for the Red Sox. After making the club out of spring training as a center fielder, Rafaela enters play on Wednesday night, hitting .212 (7-for-33) with five RBIs, .236 OBP and .627 OPS.
Offensively, Rafaela is still a work in progress, but defensively, he is considered an elite defender and offers tremendous versatility to the Red Sox.
With Trevor Story out for the remainder of the regular season, Boston could shift Rafaela to shortstop, but it appears that he will stay in the outfield. The Red Sox are expected to platoon David Hamilton and Romy Gonzalez at the position in the interim.
The next logical extension for the Red Sox is to lock up first baseman Triston Casas. The club has been in talks with Casas, but it’s been reported that both sides seem unlikely to come to an agreement anytime soon.
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