The Tampa Bay Rays saw enough in the 70 major league games that shortstop Wander Franco played to wrap him up with a massive contract.
Sources confirm to ESPN that Franco, 20, has agreed to a 12-year contract that guarantees him around $185 million. The deal is worth a maximum of $223 million.
That dwarfs the previous record contract for a player with less than one full year of service time. At age 21 in 2019, Ronald Acuna Jr. signed an eight-year, $100 million deal with the Braves.
Franco hit .288 with seven homers and 39 RBIs last season and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. He stepped up his game in the postseason, batting .368 with two homers and four RBIs in four games.
Franco wasn’t set to become arbitration eligible until 2024 and couldn’t become a free agent until 2027, but that was under the current collective bargaining agreement, which expires on Dec. 1.
