It’s Opening Day, but that hasn’t stopped Alex Anthopoulos from working on the future of the organization. He inked another critical piece to the organization to a contract extension this morning, signing Orlando Arcia to a three-year worth $7.3 million in total.
Shortstop Orlando Arcia and the Atlanta Braves are in agreement on a three-year, $7.3 million contract that includes a club option for 2026, according to sources familiar with the deal. Arcia gets $2.3 million in 2023, $2 million in 2024 and $2 million in 2025.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) March 30, 2023
As Murray mentions, the contract also includes a club option for 2026, so Orlando Arcia is under team control for the next four seasons.
This may not be the sexiest signing, but these things matter. It takes a full 26-man roster and then some to win a World Series; Arcia has proven to be a very valuable utility piece that can play all over the diamond and start in a pinch. Locking him in for a little over $2 million a year is a bargain.
I also want to ease the minds of Braves fans that immediately saw this and thought it meant the team sees Arcia as their potential shortstop of the future. When actually, this contract points towards the opposite. No starting caliber shortstop is making $2 million a year. If Arcia thought he was going to be the starter over the next three seasons and beyond, he wouldn’t be signing this deal. Both sides know that the current situation is temporary. However, if for some reason it isn’t, it means that Arcia is vastly outperforming his contract, which can only be seen as a positive.
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Photo: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire
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