Tampa Bay Rays: Wander Franco is seeing dollar signs

Tampa Bay Rays super prospect Wander Franco recently stated that he wants a $300 million contract on his table within four years.

The Tampa Bay Rays have the top farm system in all of baseball. Reigning as the best of the best is the number one overall prospect in the game, 19-year-old Wander Franco.

ESPN’s Hector Gomez tweeted a quote from Wander Franco saying “In four years I see myself with $300 million on the table”.

Franco raised a few eyebrows with his comments, while he is the top prospect in the game, he hasn’t even reached Double-A yet.

It’s likely that he won’t even be arbitration-eligible in four years. If he’s looking for an extension, I’m sure the Rays would love to accommodate that, but not for $300 million. The largest extension ever signed by the Rays was the $100 million, six-year deal they gave to Evan Longoria.

Best case scenario, Franco instantly becomes one of the elite stars of the game, similar to what Ronald Acuna Jr. has done in Atlanta. Acuna already has people asking if he’s ready to pass Mike Trout.

The Braves locked down Acuna and their other young star Ozzie Albies with long-term extensions prior to last season. After just 111 games and a Rookie of the Year award in 2018, Acuna got his $100 million and Albies earned a seven-year, $35 million extension after swatting 24 homers and earning an All-Star nod in his first full season in 2018.

There’s no way Wander Franco is getting a $300 million contract in four years. Perhaps there is more context to these comments but with the way the current arbitration system works, it’s not happening.

Again, perhaps this has been taken out of context somehow. Maybe he’s hoping there will be changes to the current service time arrangements in the next CBA negotiations. Perhaps he’s terrible at Monopoly City but is confident that with a can-do attitude and hard work, he’ll be able to master it in four years.

Hopefully, Wander Franco eventually makes himself worth $300 million…while wearing a Rays uniform.