Of all the teams in baseball, few have a stronger argument for being as proactive in locking up their core as the Atlanta Braves. In the last several years, the Braves have given extensions to Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Chris Sale, Sean Murphy, and Michael Harris II, in addition to other, smaller extensions given to others along the way. The Braves know who they like and who they want, but now is the time to add Drake Baldwin to that list.
Coming off a convincing Rookie of the Year win in 2025, expectations for Baldwin were high coming into this season, and we see sophomore slumps all the time as the league adjusts to players. However, instead of coming back to earth a bit, Baldwin looks even better this season with a .954 OPS through his first 25 games this season.
It is fair to say that the Braves have to be thrilled with what they have gotten out of Baldwin. However, if Atlanta wants Baldwin to stick around long-term, the Braves really need to try to extend Baldwin before it is too late.
Your daily reminder that Drake Baldwin is awesome: pic.twitter.com/mhHbevrqXW
— BravesVision (@BravesVisionTV) April 22, 2026
Drake Baldwin's heater is a reminder that any extension given to him isn't getting any cheaper than it is right now
The great news is that, at the moment, Baldwin is one of the best hitters in baseball. In addition to ranking at or near the top of most counting stats categories, Baldwin currently ranks fourth in MLB by fWAR at 1.3 behind just Yordan Alvarez, Nico Hoerner, and Ben Rice. If you are looking at wRC+, his 167 "only" ranks 12th, but the difference between 12th and 6th is just three points, so we aren't talking about a huge separation here (other than Alvarez, who has been objectively insane to start the season).
Considering his offensive excellence at a premium defensive position not exactly known for hitting excellence, Baldwin presents a bit of a problem for the Braves. On one hand, having a player who is currently as cheap as he is performing at a high level means that Atlanta should, in theory, have more money to improve other areas of the roster. However, if you don't give Baldwin an extension soon and he keeps playing well, the Braves could be priced out of keeping him altogether.
As for what a Baldwin extension could/should look like, that is trickier to project. At one point last offseason, there was the idea of looking into an extension like the one that Tyler Soderstrom signed. That ship has sailed, full stop. Atlanta won't want to pull up the Brinks truck for a guy that doesn't even hit arbitration until 2028, but it is not crazy at all to think that Will Smith's $140 million guarantee from the Dodgers over, say, nine years might be the floor for Baldwin at the moment.
At Baldwin's current pace, that deal would be an absolute steal with a luxury tax hit in the range of $15.5 million a year. Atlanta potentially has a good bit of money coming off the books with Raisel Iglesias, Ha-Seong Kim, Joe Jimenez, and Reynaldo Lopez theoretically becoming free agents after the season and freeing up $54.5 million in payroll. The Braves can afford to extend Baldwin, but only if they are willing to pony up before he gets too expensive.
Add us as a preferred source on Google