Passan: What the Mariners and Cal Raleigh each get out of extension

Cal Raleigh has committed to the Seattle Mariners through 2031, giving the franchise a second homegrown cornerstone player to agree to a long-term contract extension.

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Julio Rodríguez was the first, agreeing to a giant deal during his breakout 2022 rookie season that featured 12 guaranteed years and the ability to last through 2039. Having the combination of the two extensions now is something that will only help the Mariners when it comes to future dealings in contract talks, according to ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan.

And that goes for both players already on the team and future free agents.

“You want to send the message to people on the team and to people who are prospectively coming via free agency to Seattle that we have a rock solid core here,” said Passan, who broke the initial news last week that Raleigh and the Mariners were finalizing an extension. “We have Julio Rodríguez, who’s one of the best center fielders in baseball. We have Cal Raleigh, who is one of the best catchers in baseball. That right there is a really good place to start and and two really good guys to build around.”

Raleigh is clearly one of the most important pieces of Seattle’s roster, for a number of reasons.

There’s his bat, which produced the most home runs in the first four MLB seasons by a player whose primary position is catcher – a record he took from Hall of Famer Mike Piazza last season.

There’s his defensive ability, which earned Raleigh his first American League Gold Glove last year, which was soon followed by an even more prestigious Platinum Glove as the best defensive player regardless of position in the AL.

And maybe most important is Raleigh’s role as the quarterback leading Seattle’s stellar pitching staff.

When it comes to Raleigh’s deal specifically, Passan explained that it was a move the Mariners couldn’t afford not to make.

“I think the Mariners had to do this,” Passan said. “He’s such an integral part of this team (as) a catcher who has the respect of the pitching staff that he does, who has the ability behind the plate whether it’s with his arm or with his glove and framing pitches to impact the game on the defensive side.”

“Get your bag now”

Something that may have been important for Raleigh is that he’s now able to avoid a potential tough free agency in a few years as a player whose position comes with more aging concerns than any other in baseball.

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“When you look at what catchers have done in free agency, think JT Realmuto for example, he (signed with Philadelphia in 2021 for) five years, I think $150 million, and he struggled to get that. Like, he was a free agent for for a long time,” Passan said. “(Dodgers catcher) Will Smith, 10 years, $140 million, that was a contract extension. I think that and Cal Raleigh’s deal – which pays him significantly more average annual value at six years, $105 million – they know that catchers are not as appreciated as they probably should be on the free agent market because there’s fear about them aging, and so get your bag now.

“I don’t think Cal Raleigh gave up a whole lot in terms of value to get the deal that he got. Could he have made $20-25 million more potentially (by going to free agency)? Sure. But to lock in a nine-figure contract when your lifetime batting average is like .220-something, it’s pretty great.”

ESPN’s Jeff Passan joins Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk at 8:30 a.m. each Tuesday during the baseball season. Listen to this week’s conversation in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post.

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