Lawrence Butler and the Athletics in agreement on a seven year extension
The Athletics have sneakily had one of the better offseasons this year, and if you adjust offseasons according to current financial situations, they might have had the best. That included a few additions on the starting pitching market, but has been more so highlighted by the extensions given out to key bats in their lineup: first, Brent Rooker who signed a five year extension, and now Lawrence Butler, who was announced to have signed a seven year extension late Thursday night.
Lawrence Butler’s impressive 2024
Butler has been the token “player most widely projected to break out this year even though he already broke out last year” player. Fortunately, Jeff Passan made it know in his breaking news tweet that Butler has indeed already broke out.
Butler’s career got off to a rocky start as he debuted late in 2023 where he played 42 games for the Athletics and only managed to post a 59 wRC+. He did open the 2024 campaign with the A’s in Oakland but continued to struggle until he was sent back down to Triple-A Las Vegas. Prior to being sent down in the middle of May, Butler was looking at a .179/.281/.274 slash line with a 67 wRC+ and just two home runs.
Upon his return to the big league club on June 18th, Butler completely turned his season around, hitting 20 home runs and swiping 15 bases on his way to an .896 OPS and a 153 wRC+. Among all qualified big league hitters in that time frame, Butler ranked within the top twelve in SLG, OPS, ISO, and wRC+, cementing himself as one of the premier young power hitters in the game.
Despite his slow start to the season, Butler was still among some of the best sub-25 year old players in the game, ranking within the top ten in SLG, OPS, and wRC+ over the whole season. The production from Butler was backed by some impressive batted-ball metrics. He logged an 11.0 barrel%, 47.4 hardhit%, 91.1 average EV, and a .342 xwOBA - all of which were 75th percentile or higher.
The outlook for Butler’s contract
Butler is entering his age 25 season as he turns 25 in July, so this contract will take him through his age 31 season. With just over a year of service time thus far, Butler wasn’t set to hit arbitration until the conclusion of the 2026 season, so this contract overrides both his arbitration and pre-arbitration years. The AAV on the deal is worth $9.4 million, which will be quite the bargain if Butler continues on his current trajectory. It may make the A’s look cheap, but it secures financial stability for Butler and now he does’t have to worry about the yearly arbitration bargaining that can be ruined by one big injury.
Butler will man right field for the A’s in Sacramento where he also projects to provide some value. He’s a great athlete with a strong arm, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t be the starting right fielder on Opening Day in whatever ballpark the A’s end up in for the next seven years.
The A’s now have two sluggers in the middle of the lineup locked up for the foreseeable future with some young talent continuing to develop around them. Guys like J.J. Bleday, Zack Gelof, and Jacob Wilson will help to fill out the lineup around them as the A’s look to build upon their improved 2024 season. Given the talent they have, paired with the offseason moves they made, I don’t think it’s crazy to say this team can finish at .500.
Lawrence Butler 2025 Fangraphs projection:
644 PA, 26 HR, 20 SB, .253/.314/.444, .758 OPS, 118 wRC+, 3.3 fWAR
