Padres sign Cronenworth to 7-year extension reportedly worth $80M

The long-term extensions keep coming in San Diego.

The Padres signed infielder Jake Cronenworth to a seven-year contract, the team announced Saturday.

Cronenworth's deal is worth $80 million, a source told Jeff Passan of ESPN.

The pact is the biggest ever for a 29-year-old player with less than four years of service time, Passan notes.

Cronenworth will play out his one-year, $4.225-million contract hatched in his first year of arbitration eligibility, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

The 29-year-old had two years of arbitration remaining and wouldn't have been able to test free agency until after the 2025 season. The new deal will run through the 2029 campaign, when Cronenworth will be 36 and covering five years of free agency.

The two-time All-Star has hit .256/.338/.430 with 42 homers and 10 steals over 365 games since breaking into the majors with the Padres in 2020. While he came up as a second baseman, he has also played first base in recent years and made occasional appearances at shortstop and third base.

He is off to a slow start to the 2023 season, going 0-for-7 through the first two games for the winless Padres.

Cronenworth is the most recent player the Padres have been able to lock up over the past few months. San Diego has also been able to extend Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, and Joe Musgrove on lucrative deals.