MLB Teams Lock Up Young Stars

0:00On May 3rd, Major League Baseball teams are locking up their young stars early with big contract extensions. It kicked off last season when the Boston Red Sox signed Roman Anthony to an 8-year deal. This year, the Pittsburgh Pirates followed suit with short-stop Connor Griffin, and more could be coming soon. Take Munitaka, Murakami, with the Chicago White Sox. They brought him in last offseason to add some pop to their lineup, and at 26 years old, he's delivering. He's got a .937 on-base plus slugging percentage, 13 home runs, and 26 runs batted in already, even if his batting average sits at .231. The White Sox are in rebuild mode, and Murakami looks like the power bat they can build around to climb back into concession. Folks like Tyler Keppner from the Athletics say, now's the perfect time to extend him long term before he blows up even more. Then there's JJ Weatherholt lighting it up for the St. Louis Cardinals. His hot start with seven home runs, and an 8-800 on-base plus slugging, has helped them surge after trading veterans last year.

1:04Reports say extension talk started last month, but they haven't moved forward yet. As the season rolls on, expect these chats to heat up. Locking in these young guns could set up sustainable contenders for years, keeping the league's rebuild trend alive and exciting. Baseball news, powered by AI, this is MLB News Today. I'm Cory with The Story.