Atlanta Braves Give Michael Harris II Eight-Year, $72 Million Extension

The youngest man in the majors won’t be relocating any time soon.

At the ripe old age of 21, Atlanta Braves center-fielder Michael Harris II has received an eight-year, $72 million contract that would carry him through 2032 if a pair of club options are invoked. He had been earning the major-league minimum of $700,000.

An Atlanta native who grew up less than an hour from Truist Park, where the Braves play, Harris II is considered a strong candidate for National League Rookie of the Year and a contender for a Gold Glove. He’s also providing a solid bat, with surprising power, at the bottom of a packed lineup.

That’s a tall order for a soft-spoken player who started the season in Double-A ball but was promoted to the majors on Memorial Day weekend, allowing veteran Adam Duvall to return to left field in place of the injured Eddie Rosario.

The Braves, after a stumbling start, launched a 14-game winning streak almost immediately after Harris arrived.

The Harris pact, one of several given by young stars by the team, will pay him $5 million per season for 2023-24, $8 million in 2025-26, $9 million in 2027, $10 million per year in 2028 and 2029, and $12 million in 2030. There’s a $15 million option fo 2031 and a $20 million option for 2032 but the ballclub could buy out the option years for $5 million each.

The pact’s average annual value is $9 million. If the options are exercised, the contract would be worth $102 million over 10 years.

A five-tools player with a powerful throwing arm, Harris entered play Wednesday with a .287 average, .825 OPS, 12 home runs, 39 runs batted in, and 13 steals in 13 tries, in 71 games. He has a .345 average on balls in play and five defensive runs saved.

He was National League Rookie of the Month in June, when he hit .347 with 13 extra-base hits, 16 runs batted in, and four stolen bases.

The 6-foot, 195-pound left-handed hitter, batting ninth most of the season, effectively gives the Braves back-to-back lead-off hitters because regular lead-off man Ronald Acuna, Jr. follows him in the order. His main weakness to date is an inability to draw many walks.

Harris, who turned pro in 2019 after the Braves made him a third-round pick in the amateur draft, is the latest of several young stars to receive long-term extensions from the team. Third baseman Austin Riley signed a 10-year, $212 million extension, Acuna signed an eight-year, $100 million deal, and Ozzie Albies got seven years at $35 million. The Braves also gave Matt Olson an eight-year, $168 million extension the day after acquiring him from Oakland in March.

That quintet, all under 30, figure to be the backbone of a contending Atlanta team for years, although the Braves still must satisfy shortstop Dansby Swanson, a free agent after this season, and starting pitchers Max Fried and Kyle Wright, the team’s top pitchers this year.

The team might also consider a long-term extension for infielder Vaughn Grissom, another 21-year-old rookie who has thrived after his promotion from Double-A Mississippi.

According to Spotrac, the Braves ranked ninth in the major leagues with a $181,835,937 payroll before the Harris extension. The team is owned by the Denver-based Liberty Media.

Seeking their fifth straight National League East title and second consecutive world championship, the Braves have closed to within 3½ games of the front-running New York Mets. Their current four-game Truist Park series concludes Thursday after the Braves took the first two.