Breakdown of Tyler Soderstrom's Extension with the A's, Including a Special Perk
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The A's decided to give one of their key young contributors, Tyler Soderstrom, a long-term extension on Christmas, to keep him in the organization for at least the first five years of their planned Las Vegas tenure. The deal was overall worth $86 million for seven years, plus a club option for the 2033 season.
Since the beginning of last offseason, the team has been extending its young talent, in hopes of keeping them in the organization through their time in West Sacramento, as well as well into their move to Las Vegas.
Last offseason, Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler received long-term extensions, and the club has followed that up by locking up Tyler Soderstrom to an extension of his own. The franchise will look to add more talent to its current squad, but locking down these great players in hopes of building around them is a strategy we've seen employed by other clubs in recent years.
Let's take a dive into Soderstrom's new deal that will keep him in green and gold for many years to come.
Signing Bonus and Incentives
Jon Heyman of the NY Post is the one that has unveiled the details of the Soderstrom extension. Upon signing, the A's gave Soderstrom a $3 million signing bonus. Since the increased salary aspect of the extension doesn't really pay him a lot for the first couple of years, getting that much upon signing is a nice bonus for him.
In these extensions, there are usually numerous incentives for a player to strive for, which could lead to increased base salaries in their contracts. It has been reported that his base salary towards the end of his contract will increase if he is able to win awards or place in the top-10 of the AL MVP voting.
There are reportedly more incentives for Soderstrom ($50,000) if he makes the All-Star team or wins awards like MVP or Silver Slugger. Considering that he was a Gold Glove finalist in his first season in left field, he could certainly win some hardware over the next slew of seasons with the A's.
Soderstrom's 2032 salary can increase by $2 million if he finishes top-3 in MVP voting from 2029-2031. If he finishes 4th-10th, he will increase the salary by $1 million. His club option for the 2033 season will also be able to increase based on MVP voting from 2026-2032. A top-5 finish would add $2 million to his club option, and finishing sixth through tenth would add $1 million to the total.
In terms of the awards he could win, any time he wins MVP, he would be given $100,000, and $75,000 for a second-place finish, and $50,000 if he finishes in third place.
If Soderstrom is a Silver Slugger Award winner or wins World Series MVP, he would make an additional $100,000. Any time he makes the All-Star team or wins a Gold Glove, he would make 50,000. Finally, he can make $75,000 if he wins ALCS MVP.
For the last couple of years on Soderstrom's contract, he will have a limited no-trade clause. Lots of deals nowadays include this perk, in case the team looks to ship off the contract, the player will have some say in which teams they would and would not like to play for.
Another cool incentive, along with the limited no-trade clause, is that he will get a hotel suite for road games starting a year after the move to Vegas, in 2029.
Base Salaries 2026-2032 and Club Option for 2033
Coming off Soderstrom's $765,000 salary for the 2025 season, the number really won't make much of a jump for the 2026 season. His base salary for the 2026 season will be just $1 million, and can only be raised by the incentives he could earn.
His base salary for 2027, which is expected to be the final season in West Sacramento, he will make $6 million. His salary will jump up to $10 million for the club's first season in Las Vegas. From here, his salary only makes slight increases, as he will make $12 million in 2029, $16 million in 2030, $17 million in 2031, and $19 million in 2032.
Following 2032, the A's will have a club option for the 2033 season, where they can elect to give him $27 million, or the team would have to pay him a $2 million buyout. This means Soderstrom won't hit the open market until at the very least before the 2033 season.
Now that the A's have locked up one of the strongest bats in their lineup, the team can pivot to adding their other needs for the remainder of the offseason, which seems to be pitching.
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I grew up playing baseball, and also enjoyed watching and writing about my favorite team, the A’s. Being a diehard A’s fan from New Jersey is certainly not common, but I love the team and all of the current and former players so much. I currently attend school at Penn State Scranton where I get the opportunity to play college baseball.
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