Many Philadelphia Phillies fans may turn their noses up at the idea of extending unproven players, as the disastrous long-term deal for former wunderkind Scott Kingery blew up in their faces. While there’s no rush to commit to a youngster before he’s ever seen a major league pitch, the Phillies could learn a thing or two from the formerly-Oakland Athletics, who have been locking up core pieces at a rapid rate.
The A’s have been getting huge discounts on players who’ve proven their worth in the bigs, and the Phillies could look to do the same with their next generation of talent.
The Phillies’ future plans revolve almost entirely around three key prospects: Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller, and Justin Crawford. With the team’s expensive core getting older and the front office reluctant to spend big on external additions they’ll need significant contributions from in-house options to supplement a roster that has so far failed to win a championship.
Extensions with their top prospects could secure the Phillies' long-term future
Luckily, all three youngsters have high ceilings and could be game-changers for the Phils. If any of that trio proves to be a budding star once they reach the majors, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski should look to lock them up long-term at a team-friendly rate just as the A’s have done.
Athletics general manager David Forst has moved quickly to extend his key pieces over the past year, beginning with post-hype slugger Brent Rooker for five years and $60 million, as well as tooled-up outfielder Lawrence Butler for seven years and $66.5 million last offseason.
Forst doubled that up this winter, agreeing to terms with breakout masher Tyler Soderstrom on a seven-year, $86 million pact and most recently hitting machine shortstop Jacob Wilson for seven years and $70 million. All told, that gives the soon-to-be Las Vegas-based club 26 combined years of team control over four All-Star-caliber players for a total of $282.5 million, or a shade under $11 million per year. Quite a bargain.
Aside from the financials of it all, the A’s now have a great deal of long-term security on the offensive side of the ball, knowing that their four most important hitters will be sticking around for the foreseeable future. And they still have plenty of money left to bring in external reinforcements.
This brings things back to the Phillies who have taken the opposite approach in recent years, letting homegrown stars like Rhys Hoskins and Ranger Suárez walk while spending big on veteran stars like Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Nick Castellanos.
Phillies relying on Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller to be the next generation of stars
The club is now at a point where they don’t feel comfortable continually handing out massive free agent deals to patch gaping holes in the roster, instead choosing to rely upon well-regarded prospects to pick up the slack. To that end, Crawford is slated to be the Opening Day center fielder, while Painter will more than likely earn a spot in the rotation during spring training and Miller could become an everyday infielder by the All-Star break.
If any of the trio hit the ground running, Dombrowski should immediately be on the phone with their agents to work out long-term extensions. The crucial benefit to the Phillies in such a scenario would be savings, as they would be able to lock in key contributors for years to come at below-market rates, while also extending the window of team control into would-be free agent years.
The best comparison for a Crawford extension is Wilson, who profiles similarly to what Crawford should be if everything breaks right. Just like Crawford, Wilson is a former first-round pick and top prospect who has little home run pop, but makes loads of contact and sprays the ball all over the field while maintaining a high average. On top of that, both youngsters play somewhat shaky defense at a premium position but are athletic enough to not be a disaster.
The big difference is that Wilson has roughly a full season’s worth of major league games under his belt and was an All-Star and Rookie of the Year finalist in 2025. Crawford has the opportunity to embark upon his own Wilson-like ascent this year by proving doubters wrong and chasing a batting title. If that happens, or anything close to it, he could likely be secured for something in the ballpark of Wilson’s seven-year, $70 million pact.
Painter is much harder to evaluate, as pitchers inherently are timebombs when it comes to injury, and the 22-year-old is coming off a down season in Triple-A. However, if the consensus top-50 prospect in the sport delivers on his promise in 2026, he could get an offer in the range of Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene’s six-year, $53 million extension that he signed back in 2023. Like Painter, Greene was a top-flight prospect at the time with some injury issues. The then-22-year-old was coming off a good-not-great rookie season but had shown enough for Cincinnati to be comfortable committing to him long-term.
Miller is an interesting case of his own, as the 2023 first-rounder has torched minor league pitching en route to surpassing Painter as the club’s top-ranked prospect. The 21-year-old could opt to secure life-changing money before ever seeing a big league pitch like Boston’s Kristian Campbell who signed an eight-year, $60 million deal last offseason. Conversely, he could slow-play things and wait to come to the table until he has a year or two of elite production under his belt and shatter expectations with something in the neighborhood of Bobby Witt Jr.’s convoluted $288 million blockbuster.
The Phillies shouldn’t rush to hand a boatload of money to the first talented young man who’s willing to accept it. The Kingery experience must have made them learn that lesson. However, if Dombrowski and company are convinced that any of their three white whales are franchise cornerstones, it would behoove them to secure those building blocks for the long haul and hopefully solidify the next core of a World Series-caliber Phillies team.