Rival agent on Jackson Merrill's contract extension: 'That stinks'

All-Star outfielder Jackson Merrill signed a nine-year, $135 million extension with the San Diego Padres on Tuesday. The 21-year-old's new contract can max out at $204 million and includes a $30 million club option for a 10th season that can convert to a player option.

Whether this contract is "good" or "bad" depends less on your opinion of the player, or the team, and more on which side of the deal you're looking at.

For fans of the Padres, who already could look forward to a 2030 roster with Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts (among others), the Merrill extension is a welcome bonus.

A year ago in spring training, Merrill unexpectedly seized the starting center fielder's job and never looked back. He made the National League All-Star team, helped the Padres win 93 games, finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting, and cemented himself as a lineup fixture for one of the best teams in baseball.

BREAKING: Jackson Merrill and the San Diego Padres are in agreement on a nine-year, $135 million contract extension, sources say. The deal, which can max out at $204 million and includes a $30 million club option for a tenth season that can convert to a player option, was…
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) April 2, 2025

The contract buys out three or four of Merrill's free agent years, depending on whether or not his 2034 option is exercised. Therein lies the polarizing aspect of the deal: what is potentially team-friendly is necessarily player-unfriendly.

Or, as one rival agent told the Baltimore Banner, "it stinks."

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The Banner spoke to several player representatives in the wake of the contract extension for Merrill, all of whom by trade are looking for the most player-friendly contracts available for their clients. Usually that involves seizing the most available free agent dollars as soon as possible.

Merrill effectively did the opposite. He sacrificed at least three years of free agency — maybe four — and perhaps even more money along with it.

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Major league executives “look for agencies that are new or have few clients and are in need of money,” agent Scott Boras told the Banner, which leaves others “often surprised early, well-below market contracts are accepted.”

Merrill is four years removed from his final year of high school, so perhaps he'll need time to come around to that point of view. His representatives, Drew Hardee and Josh Knipp of KHG Sports, work at the client's behest like every agency. For now at least, it's a good deal for Jackson Merrill, too.

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