MLB Rumors: Jake Cronenworth, Padres Agree to 7-Year, $80M Contract Extension

The San Diego Padres' spending spree isn't over, though Jake Cronenworth's new deal isn't as exorbitant as a lot of their offseason signings.

The Athletic's Dennis Lin first reported Cronenworth agreed to a seven-year extension that will start in 2024 and run through the 2030 season.

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, the seven-year pact is worth $80 million and is the largest contract ever given to a player in his age-29 season with fewer than four years of service time.

A seventh-round draft pick by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015, Cronenworth spent four years in their minor-league system. He was traded to the Padres in December 2019 and made his MLB debut at the age of 26 in 2020.

Cronenworth finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting to Milwaukee Brewers reliever Devin Williams. The University of Michigan alum hit .285/.354/.477 in 54 games during his first season.

Even though his offensive performance hasn't stayed at that level over the past two seasons, Cronenworth is still an above-average hitter. He has a .252/.336/.425 slash line with 38 homers and 159 RBI in 310 games from 2021 to '22.

Cronenworth has been named to the NL All-Star team in each of the past two seasons. His 8.2 FanGraphs' wins above replacement during that span ranks fourth among all second basemen.

He has also been a very good postseason player with a .281/.370/.406 slash line in 18 career playoff games.

Cronenworth joins Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, Fernando Tatis Jr., Joe Musgrove, Robert Suarez and Xander Bogaerts as players who are under contract to San Diego through at least the 2027 season.

The extension for Cronenworth pays him just under $12 million per season, so it shouldn't prevent general manager A.J. Preller from continuing to add to his roster if ownership even decides to put a cap on how much to spend on payroll.

San Diego has made the playoffs in two of the previous three seasons, including a trip to the NLCS last year for the first time since 1998.