Samuel Basallo received a multi-year contract extension that was announced at a press conference attended by players, GM Mike Elias, and owner David Rubenstein. Rubenstein said the ownership group is well capitalized and intends to pursue similar deals for other young core members. The extension marks a shift from previous organizational practice under former owner Peter Angelos, when long-term extensions were rare. Historical records show the last long-term Orioles extension dated to May 2012, with other deals mainly covering arbitration years or unusual late agreements. Agent representation and prior ownership turmoil limited earlier extension activity.
The Orioles' ownership group is really well capitalized and we have the resources to do these kind of deals," Rubenstein told Steve Melewski and other reporters. "It takes two to do deals, but we thought this was a perfect one, for the first one of this type....We have a lot of other talented people on the team who we hope will ultimately want to spend their entire career here or want to spend long-term arrangements with us. We're committed to doing more of these as soon as we can.
Basallo's deal represents an intriguing turning point for an organization that more or less eschewed long-term extensions for years under previous owner Peter Angelos.
Even as the Orioles amassed a wealth of young talent in their recent rebuild, extensions didn't follow. This naturally could've been a product of the ownership turmoil the organization was going through for much of that period, and Rubenstein's group only bought the team in early 2024.
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