Brent Rooker and the Athletics in agreement on a 5 year contract extension
Although the future in front of them is uncertain at the moment, the Athletics have sneakily had one of the better offseasons in baseball. While the additions of Jeffrey Springs and Luis Severino help to bring some stability to the starting rotation in hopes of supporting an offense that was on the rise in 2024, the A’s may have pulled off the steal of the offseason by inking slugger Brent Rooker to a five year contract extension worth $60M. The extension also includes a sixth year with a vesting option. Rooker just finished up his age 29 season, which happened to be a career year for him, and this deal will take him through his age 34 season. Rooker has been one of the premier power hitters in the game since the start of 2023 - his first full season with the A’s. Take a look at his statline:
Since 2023 - 282 G, 1140 PA, 69 HR, 181 RBI, 15 SB, .272/.348/.528, .876 OPS, 146 wRC+, 7.2 fWAR
In that time frame, Rooker ranks 9th in HR, 10th in wRC+, 11th in SLG, and 9th in ISO (.257) among qualified hitters. Of his 7.2 Wins Above Replacement over the two seasons, 5.2 of them came in 2024 where he put up his best season yet:
2024 - 145 G, 614 PA, 39 HR, 112 RBI, 11 SB, .293/.365/.562, .927 OPS, 164 wRC+, 5.2 fWAR
His 39 HR ranked tied for 5th among qualified hitters, while he ranked 6th in SLG, 8th in OPS, 7th in wRC+, and 5th in ISO (.269), all of which are career highs. Rooker also saw improvements across the board in both raw power and contact metrics, displaying a more aggressive approach and increasing his contact rates both in and out of the strike zone. He managed career highs in average EV, (91.9), barrel% (16.6), hardhit% (49.6), and xwOBA (.383). The bat obviously has 40+ HR upside, and with the A’s move from The Coliseum in Oakland to Sutter Health Park in Sacramento which happens to be friendlier to sluggers than The Coliseum, it’s likely we could see Rooker reach the 40 HR threshold.
Why is this a steal for the A’s? Take a look at some of the other full-time DHs in the league that hit at the same caliber as Rooker. The three hitters that come closest to him in terms of age and time at DH are Marcell Ozuna, Kyle Schwarber, and Jorge Soler. You can throw Yordan Alvarez into the mix, but he did log over 50 games in the outfield in 2024 and is still only 27 years old. Of the four, Rooker is the youngest having just turned 30, while Ozuna just turned 34, Soler will soon be 33, and Schwarber will soon be 32. The numbers between Rooker, Ozuna, and Schwarber are comparable across the board with Rooker coming in just a tick behind Ozuna in SLG, wRC+, and fWAR, while Schwarber leads the three in HR. However, including Soler, Rooker will be making the least amount of money annually at $12M. Ozuna’s deal with the Braves is worth $80M over 5 years, coming out to a $16M AAV and set to expire after the 2025 season, and Schwarber’s deal with the Phillies is worth $79M over 4 years, coming out to a $19.75M AAV and also set to expire following the 2025 season. And while Soler’s numbers aren’t quite up to par with the other three hitters here, he’s earning a $12.5M AAV over three years. If these numbers show us anything, Rooker should likely be making upwards of $20M-$23M annually over five or six years. However, what the numbers also show us is that Rooker must be bought into whatever the A’s are building over the next couple of years. This deal also happens to make a lot of sense on Rooker’s end as he wouldn’t have been entering free agency until after the 2028 season where he would be finishing up his age 33 season.
This deal is also great on the A’s end, obviously because they get Rooker at a discount giving them spending flexibility, but also if they were to come to a point where they needed to trade him, this contract will look very good to other teams if he’s still producing at a high level, which could yield a big return for them. It has a very good chance at aging well. And finally aside from the money, the A’s have a solid core of guys to build around to hopefully climb back into relevance in the AL West. Suiting up alongside Rooker are rising stars such as outfielder Lawrence Butler and infielders Zack Gelof and Jacob Wilson. Excited for the A’s and what they may accomplish moving forward!
