ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The details of Wander Franco’s record-breaking contract extension with the Rays are somewhat complex beyond all the zeroes.
There is a signing bonus, escalator clauses tied to award voting, an if-traded payment and an option with a buyout factoring into where the total value falls between $182 million over 11 years and $223 million over 12.
Franco’s reasons for signing the deal, it turns out, were quite simple.
“With this, I can help my family and have nothing on my mind when I’m playing on the field,” Franco said during a news conference Monday at Tropicana Field, with Jairo De La Rosa, the team’s Latin America cultural coordinator, translating. “And be happy with this opportunity.”
Though Franco is only 20 and could have made plenty going year by year and then cashed in even more (maybe $100 million-plus more) as a free agent, he said staying with the Rays, even with their future home uncertain, was appealing.
“The one thing I want to do is bring a championship to the organization,” Franco said. “The Rays have given me the support that I need, the development, the people that they have here. I wish to stay here for my whole career.”
After the Rays made the initial offer to open the back-and-forth negotiations several weeks ago — and as a report of the talks came out of his native Dominican Republic on Nov. 18 — Franco said he kept the circle small, eschewing the outside noise and talking primarily with his father (also named Wander) and agent Manny Paula.
“I saw this as the opportunity,” Franco said. “I wanted to do this, because this was the organization that opened the door for me to professional baseball.”
Sporting a new Carolina blue suit with a pink pocket square, Franco on Monday looked very much the part of the newly minted mega-millionaire.
He laughed at a question noting his affinity for luxury cars (Lamborghini, Rolls Royce Cullinan SUV, Mercedes with a diamond-embellished steering wheel) and how he might spend his massive new riches.
“Continue to help those people in need, my family,” he said. “And if you have to buy something that’s (luxurious), I think I can do it now.”
The Rays see Franco as their prized possession, enthralled by what they expect the multi-talented shortstop to do for them on and off the field after his 70-game rookie debut and thrilled that he will be under their control through 2032, with a $25 million option for 2033.
“I think this commitment itself speaks to that pretty clearly, but (he’s) a player that is incredibly skilled, incredibly driven, and is only scratching the surface in terms of the impact he’s likely to make on this club over the years ahead,” said Rays baseball operations president Erik Neander.
“Really, I think September into the postseason, you saw that and you saw glimpses of just how good he can be. The sky’s the limit. Really. Truly. The abilities — the switch-hit, the contact, the defensive abilities, the feel for the game, the baseball IQ — it’s all there and sets him up for what could be a historic career.”
The financial commitment was, by far, the largest in franchise history, eclipsing a six-year, $100 million extension for Evan Longoria in November 2012. Otherwise, it was the latest in a series of lucrative long-term extensions the Rays have done with premium players, typically at the front end of their careers — trading the risk of injury or inconsistent play for cost certainty and, in some cases, thrifty deals.
Principal owner Stuart Sternberg said the agreement represented “a great day” for the team and for Franco, noting the mutual trust and contributions of many, and that the Rays expect Franco to be “a dramatic part” of their commitment to field a competitive team and maintain a “standard of excellence” for many years.
Neander said — though fans of other AL East teams might disagree — that it also was a good day for baseball, “that the chance for a homegrown star to be with the club for the foreseeable future, that in and of itself is a really big deal.”
The deal was completed under something of a deadline, with a lockout and transactions freeze expected to follow the Wednesday night expiration of baseball’s labor agreement, and amid uncertainty surrounding what the rules for free-agent eligibility and player pay structure will be in the new pact.
But Neander said the timing was right, that Franco showed during his rise through the minors and his play following his June 22 promotion to the majors that he is “an exceptional talent” who “is driven to be a star” and impressed the team with his work ethic and ability to handle any moment.
“It’s a large commitment, and there’s a lot of different ways this could go,” Neander said, “but if not now on Wander, then when?
“This is something where we just felt, given his desire to be here and the relationships that are in place, that this was a unique opportunity to extend a commitment to an incredibly talented player for a long time and to give our fans something that they can look forward to and trust is going to be here for quite a while now.”
