Predicting the next young MLB stars to land a huge contract extension

It seems like every MLB team can't wait to lock up their best young players on big contract extensions, and on Friday afternoon it was the St. Louis Cardinals' turn. Amid what's been an incredibly promising year all around, the Redbirds have rewarded their best young player, reportedly signing star second baseman JJ Wetherholt to an eight-year, $112.5 million deal that not only buys out his arbitration but also a couple of his post-free agency seasons.

Wetherholt has been a relevation this year, a genuine Rookie of the Year candidate excelling on both sides of the ball. He's also just one of many young players taking the league by storm — several of whom could be getting paid in similar fashion very soon. Here are seven candidates to be next in line.

3B Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays

• Age: 23
• Free agent after: 2030

Caminero is the trickiest case on this list. He's in the midst of another spectacular offensive season, one that has firmly established him as among the best power hitters in the sport at the age of 23. And the Rays, despite their financial limitations, have shown a willingness to sign pre-arb extensions; just look at the 11-year, $182 million deal they gave Wander Franco before that fell apart for entirely unrelated and far more serious reasons.

On the one hand, Caminero still has four more seasons left until he hits free agency and would no doubt love to cash in before then. On the other, he could hit free agency as a perennial All-Star bat who can at least pretend to play a premium position at just 27 years old. Will he be willing to cede some of his market value to get paid now? And will the Rays be willing to meet what is surely an astronomical asking price?

OF AJ Ewing, New York Mets

• Age: 21
• Free agent after: 2031

Amid a lost season in Queens, Ewing and Carson Benge stand as real bright spots, as both young outfielders have looked like future stars in their rookie campaigns. All due respect to Benge, though, I think Ewing is the one who David Stearns will try to lock up first. He's the superior athlete for starters (although neither are slouches in that department) and a better bet to stick in center field moving forward, and he's also some 18 months or so younger.

Handing big money to a player with so little experience is always at least a little fraught, of course. But it's hard to overstate how impressive Ewing has looked at the plate and in the field, and locking him in now at a potentially below-value price if he continues this trajectory is well worth the risk.

C Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves

• Age: 25
• Free agent after: 2030

Baldwin hasn't quite regained his rhythm at the plate since returning from the IL, but don't be mistaken: This is still one of the very best young catchers in the game, one who's good enough behind the plate and hits the ball incredibly hard at it. Betting on a catcher is always a dangerous game, but the reigning NL Rookie of the Year has torn the cover off the ball for two seasons now and is still just 25 years old. Plus, the bat would play even if he has to move over to first base as he enters his 30s.

INF Sal Stewart, Cincinnati Reds

• Age: 22
• Free agent after: 2031

Stewart has cooled off a bit since his torrid start to the season, and righty corner bats are never a demographic that teams are thrilled to invest long-term money in. But 22-year-olds who can make enough contact against big-league pitching with this kind of pop are awfully rare, and Cincy is so starved for offense — and payroll flexibility — that they might be willing to get out ahead of things here. Plus, if Stewart can work his way back toward last year's batted-ball profile — when he pulled the ball in the air significantly more — he's got some 35-homer seasons in him in that ballpark.

2B Travis Bazzana, Cleveland Guardians

• Age: 23
• Free agent after: 2031

The league has caught up with Bazzana of late; he's got a .652 OPS since the start of June, and the numbers are pretty ugly against left-handed pitching right now. He's also as limited a defender at second base as the scouting report suggested coming through the Minors.

Still, he's a truly phenomenal athlete, and he makes so much happen on the bases that it goes a long way toward making up for his shortcomings — and gives cause for optimism that he can improve in the field. This feels like the normal rookie struggles, and the skill set is still very much worth investing in for a Guardians squad that needs an offensive formation to build upon as the indefatigable Jose Ramirez gets older.

OF Jac Caglianone, Kansas City Royals

• Age: 23
• Free agent after: 2031

You can look at the .776 OPS this season, and the awful numbers from his first taste of MLB life last year, and wonder why Caglianone would warrant inclusion on this list. You probably haven't actually watched him hit, though: Because if you had, it would leave no doubt that this is someone well worth the investment.

Caglianone is build like a linebacker and has the batted-ball data to boot. Very few players hit the ball harder on a more regular basis, and he's starting to lift the ball to the pull side more and tap into that prodigious raw power. He's holding his own against lefties this year and is tearing the cover off the ball since the start of June; considering his physical gifts and his prospect pedigree, it feels like only a matter of time before he reaches escape velocity. An offense-starved team like Kansas Citiy can't afford to wait until he does.

1B Ben Rice, New York Yankees

• Age: 27
• Free agent after: 2030

From a pure talent and production perspective, Rice belongs way higher on this list — above everyone save for Caminero, certainly, and maybe even above him too. (Though he is 27, a sign of just how late of a bloomer he was in the Bronx.) The real impediment here is the Yankees organization, one notoriously averse to handing out extensions to players currently under contract.

They didn't do it for Aaron Judge, risking free agency before bringing him back on a nine-year, $360 million deal, and odds are they'll do so with Rice too. He hasn't even reached arbitration yet, and those sorts of savings could do wonders for a team that's always swimming in the deep end of the offseason pool. Plus, his limited defensive value, and the fact that he'll be entering his age-32 season when he hits free agency, should limit his market somewhat. But the future of New York's offense remains pretty cloudy, and locking Rice up for the long haul could be worth bucking Brian Cashman's trends.

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