Braves in deep discussions on eight-year contract extension with Michael Harris, per report

The Atlanta Braves are awash with young talent that is locked up for the foreseeable future. After the recent contract extension that was given to Austin Riley, the Braves have given extensions to Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, and Matt Olson and that doesn’t include the usual team control that comes with having young players on the roster.

One of those very young players is Michael Harris who has firmly inserted himself in the National League Rookie of the Year race (along with Spencer Strider). In addition to playing Gold Glove defense out in center field since the day he was called up, Harris came into tonight with a .292/.330/.508 slash line with 12 homers and 13 stolen bases. Now, it looks like he could be a Brave for a long time.

We are still very early in the reporting on this, but Murray is very good on these sorts of reports and the AJC’s Justin Toscano seemed to indicate that there have indeed been rumblings about a Harris contract extension for a little while now. To put this in perspective, Harris currently isn’t a free agent until 2029 as it stands now. However, he seems like a guy that is going to stick around and be productive for a long time and the Braves have been routinely aggressive in trying to keep this young core around.

**Update**

Jon Heyman is reporting that if the extension as it stands is completed, it will be for around $72 million which is a pretty sweet value for the Braves and gives Mike some financial certainty.

It is safe to say that for that amount, that sort of extension for a player of Harris’ caliber despite his experience level is a no-brainer.