{"id":98639,"date":"2025-04-02T12:05:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T16:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=98639"},"modified":"2025-04-02T12:05:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T16:05:02","slug":"jackson-merrill-contract-extension-padres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/04\/02\/jackson-merrill-contract-extension-padres\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackson Merrill Secures Long-Term Deal With Padres"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SAN DIEGO \u2014 <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/merrija01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jackson Merrill<\/a>, the San Diego Padres\u2019 standout center fielder, has signed a nine-year, $135 million contract extension, establishing his place with the team through the 2034 season. The deal, which includes a $30 million club option for 2035 that can convert to a player option if Merrill finishes in the top five in MVP voting during the contract, was first reported by FanSided\u2019s <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByRobertMurray\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Murray<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">San Diego has been struck by Merrill Madness.<\/p>\n<p>We have signed center fielder Jackson Merrill to a nine-year contract through the 2034 season with a club option for 2035. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FDw3D0aIcQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/FDw3D0aIcQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 San Diego Padres (@Padres) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Padres\/status\/1907445467023368380?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><code><\/code><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<h3 class=\"css-146c3p1 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-37j5jr r-adyw6z r-135wba7 r-b88u0q\" dir=\"ltr\"><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\"><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3 r-a8ghvy\">Contract Details Lock in Padres\u2019 Star<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Effective starting in 2026, the extension secures Merrill, 21, as a key piece for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/02\/08\/jason-heyward-signs-contract-padres\/\" target=\"_self\">Padres<\/a> after an astounding rookie campaign. The agreement could max out at $204 million with incentives, exemplifying the team\u2019s confidence in the former first-round pick\u2019s potential. &#8220;The deal includes a total of $30 million in potential escalators with 500 plate appearances in each season throughout the contract&#8221; (per Robert Murray). Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller had <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/03\/12\/jackson-merrill-potential-contract-extension\/\" target=\"_self\">explored extension talks with Merrill even before his 2024 debut<\/a>, but waiting until now extended the young star\u2019s earning power.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">On Jackson Merrill\u2019s nine-year, $135 million extension with the Padres: the deal includes a total of $30 million in potential escalators with 500 plate appearances in each season throughout the contract, sources say.<\/p>\n<p>2026: $5 million ($1 million salary increase from 2030-2034).\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ByRobertMurray\/status\/1907444555563376666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3 class=\"css-146c3p1 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-37j5jr r-adyw6z r-135wba7 r-b88u0q\" dir=\"ltr\"><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\"><span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3 r-a8ghvy\">Rookie Season Showcases Elite Talent<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/30\/best-padres-rookie-seasons-all-time\/\" target=\"_self\">Merrill\u2019s 2024 season<\/a> was a breakout performance that turned heads across Major League Baseball. In 156 games, he batted .292 with a .326 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. He smashed 24 home runs and driving in 90 runs. His 61 extra-base hits and 16 stolen bases emphasize his blend of power and speed. That earned him a National League All-Star nod, Silver Slugger, and a<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/13\/merrill-skenes-nl-rookie-of-the-year\/\" target=\"_self\"> second-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year<\/a>. Defensively, he excelled in center field, posting a plus-11 outs above average.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through the first week of the 2025 season, Merrill has picked up where he left off. In the Padres&#8217; 6-0 start, he is hitting .400 (8-for-20) with a home run and a team-leading six RBIs. The extension locks in a player who\u2019s already a fan favorite and a key piece of San Diego\u2019s postseason aspirations. For Merrill, it\u2019s an opportunity to cement a legacy with the Friars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SAN DIEGO \u2014 Jackson Merrill, the San Diego Padres\u2019 standout center fielder, has signed a nine-year, $135 million contract extension, establishing his place with the team through the 2034 season. The deal, which includes a $30 million club option for 2035 that can convert to a player option if Merrill finishes in the top five [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5310,"featured_media":98645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[837,28937,93],"class_list":["post-98639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-padres","tag-contract-extensions","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-padres"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98639"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98647,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98639\/revisions\/98647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}