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Kevin McGonigle has signed an eight-year contract extension worth at least $150 million with the Detroit Tigers, just weeks into his MLB career. This deal sets a record for the most guaranteed money for a player with fewer than 100 days of MLB service time.
Detroit — Kevin McGonigle has barely played, and now he's getting paid.
That's the trend in Major League Baseball these days, and McGonigle added to that in a monster way Wednesday by agreeing to an eight-year extension that will pay the Tigers shortstop at least $150 million through 2034. The extension comes less than three weeks into his major-league career.
Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle agreed to an eight-year extension less than three weeks into his MLB career.
The deal marks the most guaranteed money for a player with fewer than 100 days of MLB service time, surpassing the previous record, which lasted less than a week. Last week, shortstop Konnor Griffin, the No. 1 prospect in baseball (McGonigle is No. 2) signed a nine-year, $140-million extension with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Here's a look at some of the biggest contract extensions, by guaranteed money, in MLB history for players with less than a year of major-league service time, not including veteran international free-agent signings. H/T to MLB.com and Baseball-Reference for help with the research:
Four of those contracts (McGonigle, Griffin, Emerson and Pratt) have been signed this year and three (Anthony, Basallo and Campbell) last year as a possible lockout looms next winter. There's no telling what the game's financial picture (salary cap? salary floor?) will look like in 2027 in beyond. That said, in recent years, more organizations and players have begun seeing more value in these kinds of deals. They provide lifetime financial security for players, while potentially providing massive savings for teams on the back end (in what would be expensive arbitration and free-agent years), especially if players become superstars.
This is the second deal of this type for the Tigers, who before the 2024 season signed infielder Colt Keith to a six-year deal worth at least $28.7 million. The deal could max out at $82 million over nine years.
McGonigle, 21, has played in each of the Tigers' first 17 games of 2026, starting 16 of them at shortstop and third base. A first-round draft pick in 2023, he's hitting .311/.417/.492 with eight RBIs. He had four hits in his major-league debut on Opening Day, and on Sunday, he hit his first major-league home run.
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Let's put Kevin McGonigle's huge contract with Detroit Tigers in historical perspective
Kevin McGonigle's contract extension is worth at least $150 million.
The contract extension is for eight years, running through 2034.
His extension set the record for the most guaranteed money for a player with fewer than 100 days of MLB service time.
The previous record was held by Konnor Griffin, who signed a nine-year, $140 million extension with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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