Jackson Merrill signs nine-year extension with Padres

Jackson Merrill signs nine-year extension with Padres

The San Diego Padres have signed young outfielder Jackson Merrill to a nine-year, $135 million extension, Fansided’s Robert Murray was among the first to report Wednesday.

BREAKING: Jackson Merrill and the San Diego Padres are in agreement on a nine-year, $135 million contract extension, sources say. The deal, which can max out at $204 million and includes a $30 million club option for a tenth season that can convert to a player option, was…

— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) April 2, 2025

Merrill, who turns 22-years-old on April 19, finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting last year behind Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, who had a historically great rookie season for a pitcher.

That doesn’t take away anything from Merrill, who burst onto the scene with his five-tool skillset. He slashed .292/.326/.500 (128 OPS+) with 24 home runs, 90 RBIs, 31 doubles, six triples and 16 stolen bases. The center fielder also finished with 11 outs above average, the sixth-best mark in MLB among qualified center fielders. He was initially a middle infielder coming up in the minor leagues, but had to transition to the outfield after a logjam–and he’s more than thrived in it.

The Padres have begun the 2025 MLB Season an unbeaten 6-0, and the former first-rounder has played a huge part in that. He’s hitting .400 with a 1.035 OPS and has driven in six runs in six games.

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This is a very team-friendly contract for a Padres organization that hasn’t been afraid to reward players with bloated contracts over the last several years.

According to Spotrac, the next four seasons of pre-arbitration and arbitration combined will be bought out plus five additional seasons of $105 million. As Murray noted above, the deal includes a $30 million club option in 2035 that can convert to a player option with a top-5 MVP finish. He finished No. 9 in the award voting in 2024.

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