Why Jackson Merrill, Kristian Campbell signed extensions now. Plus, watch this Elly De La Cruz catch

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The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.

Good morning! Did you get an extension yesterday?

Plus: The Dodgers made a trade, we have a highlight you need to see and Ken tells us about Juan Soto’s home away from home in the minor leagues. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!

Big Deals: Why Merrill, Campbell signed extensions now

Literally minutes before we sent yesterday’s Windup, news broke that the Padres had signed Jackson Merrill to a nine-year extension worth $135 million, which could reach 10 years/$204M if he hits certain escalators (Dennis Lin has all the details here).

A few hours later, bam! The Red Sox had also extended rookie infielder Kristian Campbell for eight years and $60 million.

At time of signing, Campbell only had 16 at-bats in the big leagues. But — small sample size duly noted — he was hitting .375/.500/.688 (1.188 OPS) in those 16 at-bats. He’s also a highly touted prospect, coming in at No. 9 on Keith Law’s top 100 list this year.

Jen McCaffrey has the details for Campbell’s deal here — it escalates slowly, starting with $1 million this year, and climbing to $16 million in 2032.

Meanwhile, Merrill hit .292/.326/.500 (.826 OPS) with 24 home runs last year as a rookie. He was an All-Star, a Silver Slugger award winner and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. If you assume Merrill will only get better as he continues to age into his prime, then an AAV of $15 million a year is a steal. 

For context: Spotrac says 10 players are making exactly $15 million each in 2025. If you cherry-pick and remove the best two (Seth Lugo at 5.4 bWAR and Eugenio Suarez at 3.1), the other eight combined for 4.1 bWAR last year. Merrill was worth 4.4, and was already hitting .400 with a homer and six RBIs in the Padres’ first six games (he went 2-for-4 with a home run yesterday).

But why would two stars — one 22 (Campbell) and one 17 days short of it (Merrill) — sign these deals if much bigger paychecks could be awaiting them? 

Because, frankly, free agency takes a long time in baseball. Merrill made $740,000 last year. He’s making $809,500 this year. Campbell immediately got a $240,000 raise this year. Plus: Injuries happen; you never know when a game might be your last. So, yeah — if someone is offering you a guaranteed eight or nine digits and career stability right now? It’s awfully hard to pass that up for the promise of a bigger payday in a few years.

More extensions: Ketel Marte was already signed through 2027 with the Diamondbacks. It’s at least 2030 now, after a six-year extension worth $116.5 million.

More Merrill: Lin also tells us why Merrill has many different autographs. (Wonder which one he used for the extension.)

Ken’s Notebook: Soto’s fond memories of his minor-league host family

From my latest story:

The first thing Juan Soto wanted to do was find a GameStop where he could address a faulty PlayStation console. He was just 19, newly arrived in Hagerstown, Md., to begin the 2018 season at Low A. The head of his host family, Brian Campbell, chuckles at the recollection.

Soto, baseball’s $765 million man, laughs out loud. Seven years later, the memories endure.

Soto stayed with the Campbells for only about three weeks in April 2018 before advancing to High A, Double A and the majors in less than a month. Yet, even after signing the richest contract in sports history, he remains in touch with Campbell, who says the outfielder is the same person at 26 he was at 19.

“People always ask, ‘Is he arrogant?’” Campbell said. “Nope. He’s just Soto.”

Campbell, 47, has taken his daughter, three sons and other family members to visit Soto at major-league parks and gone out to dinner with him on occasion. The continuing bond between the two was evident when Campbell consented to be interviewed for this story. Campbell texted Soto for his permission. Less than a half-hour later, Soto responded with his blessing.

“I know it was a short time, but we had so much fun every single day in that house,” Soto said last weekend while the Mets were in Houston. “It’s a big family, a really lovely family that welcomed us like we were their kids.”

Soto, during his time with the Hagerstown Suns, was not much older than Campbell’s sons, two of whom were 15 and another who was 12. Campbell and his ex-wife also hosted three other players that season, none of whom reached the majors, and about 15 total from 2017 to ‘19. The majority of the players were Latin American.

Other team members would come by after games to hang out at the Campbell home. Tom Burtman, the Suns’ director of promotions, recalled hearing the home was a “happening place.” Soto, smiling broadly, concurred with that assessment.

More here.

Huh: Esteury Ruiz to the Dodgers? Why not!

Why are the Dodgers picking up a player who was DFA’d earlier this week by — no offense — the A’s? According to The Associated Press, the Dodgers’ payroll on Opening Day was $319,537,290, while the A’s came in at $74,908,652. What player could the A’s be discarding that the Dodgers could possibly need?

Esteury Ruiz, apparently.

The thing is, the Dodgers need outfield depth. Before the trade, they only had one outfielder on the 40-man roster who wasn’t already on the active 26-man roster (James Outman). But this trade addresses another need: speed. 

Ruiz led the AL with 67 stolen bases in 2023 — year one of the bigger bases and limited pickoff attempts. But in 2024, an old axiom was reiterated: “You can’t steal first base.” Ruiz batted .200 in just 29 games, posting an OBP of just .270 (and only five stolen bases.)

The 26-year-old’s sprint speed has dropped — from 29.8 feet per second in 2022 to 29.4 last year — but he’s still in the 95th percentile. Meanwhile, here’s the Dodgers’ sprint speed leaderboard (as of yesterday afternoon):

Baseball Savant

There’s no guarantee Ruiz will help Los Angeles this year, and the A’s got a decent return in the 23-year-old right-handed SP Carlos Duran (4.06 ERA in 270 2/3 minor-league innings). But when you have the sort of starting pitching depth the Dodgers have, you can afford to use it on a novelty

Look at This Play: Elly De La Cruz’s incredible catch

I try not to highlight the same series two days in a row, but you have to see this catch by Elly De La Cruz. I want you to take note of where he was positioned when the ball was hit, and how long it took him to decide to even pursue it.

MY GOODNESS, ELLY DE LA CRUZ! pic.twitter.com/DkxXlvPX4a

— MLB (@MLB) April 2, 2025

Here’s a fun little callback to a few paragraphs ago: De La Cruz hit a top speed of 28.3 feet per second on that play. With an infielder’s glove on his left hand. While tracking a fly ball.  Now go back and look at that Dodgers sprint speed leaderboard.

I can’t stop watching the sand flare out like a hydrogen bomb fallout, coming from under his right knee as he flips over.

Alas, this play was merely a silver lining. For the second consecutive day, De La Cruz grounded out to end a 1-0 loss to the Rangers. (But sheesh, what a play.)

Handshakes and High Fives

Is it more surprising that the Braves have started the season 0-7 … or expected that the Dodgers have started it 8-0? The Braves actually led until the eighth inning last night, but — on his bobblehead night, no less — Shohei Ohtani hit a walk-off home run.

Paul Skenes has a 1.46 ERA after two starts. Stephen Nesbitt spoke to a few baseball lifers to discuss the (rightful) hype around a superstar starter, and how the whole sport holds its breath every time he pitches.

Every year, a team or three kicks around the idea of a six-man rotation. So, asks Chad Jennings, why hasn’t it ever caught on?

Astros reliever Bryan King has been entrusted with quite a few high-leverage innings already this season. It was either that or the salmon boat.

Playing baseball season bingo? Put a bean on the square that says “player doesn’t hustle, ‘it has been addressed.’” This time it’s Mark Vientos of the Mets.

Tech company 1, Phillies 0.

Iván Herrera hit three home runs in the Cardinals’ win over the Angels yesterday. Do you know how many Cardinals catchers have ever done that? The answer is … zero. Until now.

Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Evan Drellich’s dispatch from the A’s weird home opener in Sacramento.

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(Top photo: Denis Poroy / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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