Only $102 Million (Maybe) For Michael Harris II Over 10 Years? The Atlanta Braves Got A Steal

Yes, Michael Harris II was riding buses around Double-A baseball less than three months ago. Yes, he remains the youngest player in the Major Leagues at 21 years and 23 weeks old. Yes, he made the baseball minimum of $700,000 per season before he finalized a contract Tuesday with the Atlanta Braves that could total $102 million over 10 years.

But, um.

Is this gifted center fielder, impressive hitter, swift runner and pleasant guy who likes to call himself “Money Mike” already underpaid?

Yes.

Definitely yes.

Even so, congratulations to Braves officials, because this Harris signing is what they do: They continue to move closer to yearly dominance by tying their 20-something youth of considerable talent to long-term contracts, often to the financial disadvantage of those players.

Before this season, the Braves gave first baseman Matt Olson a free-agent contract worth $168 million over eight years. They also signed third baseman Austin Riley in early August to a 10-year deal at $212 million. Those extensions were about right for both players, but in April 2019, they secured team-friendly contracts from outfielder Ronald Acuna for eight years at $100 million and second baseman Ozzie Albies for seven years at $35 million.

Acuna and Albies were 21 and 22, respectively.

Which brings us back to the latest Acuna and Albies for the Braves in Harris, a native of the Atlanta area.

Earlier this season, when Harris kept flashing all of his wondrous skills in Pearl, Mississippi for the Braves’ minor league team — you know, before he would do the same after his late May call-up for their major league team, surging through the summer in search of a second consecutive world championship — a Braves official told me Harris could become the next Mookie Betts.

Betts is the 29-year-old megastar of the Los Angeles Dodgers with the following on his resume as an outfielder with unlimited skills: six All-Star Game trips, five Gold Gloves, four Silver Slugger awards, two World Series rings, 2018 American League Most Valuable Player honors during his Boston Red Sox days and an AL batting title.

When the Red Sox traded Betts to the Dodgers before the 2020 season, he signed a 12-year deal that Spotrac.com says is worth an average of $30,416,667 per season, including the year he turns 31.

Under Harris’ new contract with the Braves, he is slated to celebrate his 31st birthday by making $15 million.

Wait . . . what?

I’ll save you the math.

That’s half of what Betts is scheduled to pocket at 31, and that’s only if the Braves decide to pick up the option for that season on somebody who (to quote that Braves official again) could become the next Mookie Betts.

Harris is sprinting toward Betts territory. He makes ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10 plays with regularity. He is hitting .287 with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs, and “clutch” surrounds all of his numbers, especially in late innings.

As Braves manager Brian Snitker said Tuesday, “What he has done is just blowing me away. I knew he was a very talented outfielder, but gosh. I had no idea he ran as good as he did. I didn’t realize he threw as good as he did. We all liked him the last two years in spring training. We loved the guy, the package, and you don’t know until you get him here and live with him what to expect.

“But, man. It’s been so impressive how he’s handled himself. He’s got a slow heart beat.

“No situation seems to be too big for him.”

Sounds like Mookie Betts.

Except for the money.