Well, the motto of the season is to “be bold,” and the Phillies certainly are.
On Sunday, the Phillies announced that they signed Scott Kingery, a natural second baseman who has yet to make his debut in the majors, to contract extension.
OFFICIAL: #Phillies have signed Scott Kingery to a six-year contract through the 2023 season.
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 25, 2018
The deal also includes three club options for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons. pic.twitter.com/fSKGoxsuUK
Kingery is 23, and so the main portion of this contract will take him through age 29 season. The three option years could mean that he’s on the Phillies until he’s 32, nine years from now. The Phillies have locked up one of their most exciting talents for what could amount to nearly a decade.
The terms haven’t been confirmed, but we do have a report of the value of the guaranteed years.
Kingery's deal guarantees him $24 million, according to a source
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) March 25, 2018
That comes to $4 million a year. We don’t yet know how much the option years are for, and whether they’re team options, player options, or mutual options. We’ll have more analysis on the terms of the deal in the coming days, since it’s hard to know much until we know about the option years. At first blush, this seems like an exceedingly team-friendly deal that buys out all of Kingery’s arbitration and possibly more. He’ll be making more than he’d be making without the contract, but there’s a chance that $4 million is going to be shockingly under market for a talent like Kingery.
But honestly, we’re not going to be able to decide whether the Phillies got a steal or a bust until he starts playing in the majors, and plays there for awhile. And good news: Kingery’s reportedly going to get a chance to do that very, very soon.
Scott Kingery will open season with the Phillies, source says
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) March 25, 2018
The Phillies have yet to confirm this, but it seems more than likely considering that they just signed him to an extension. However, I have absolutely no idea where he’s going to play and how often. There is literally no way to get him consistent at-bats right now, and that’s what he needs in the majors.
So I'm thinking 1B Santana, 2B Hernandez, 3B Franco, SS Crawford Wearing A Trenchcoat And Sitting On Kingery's Shoulders
— Michael Baumann (@MJ_Baumann) March 25, 2018
That’s as plausible as any other scenario I can think of right now.
Maybe we’ll find out more in the coming days. We’ll certainly have analysis about the Phillies’ roster pickle this week.
As iffy I am on this deal and how it could almost criminally underpay Kingery, I’m so unbelievably psyched about him. He could be the real deal, and I’m so excited to see if he is.