Phillies sign top prospect Kingery to 6-year deal
The Philadelphia Phillies locked up one of their most promising youngsters Sunday, signing infield prospect Scott Kingery to a six-year contract that includes club options for the 2024, 2025, and 2026 seasons.
Kingery, who was recently dubbed the Phillies' second-best prospect by MLB.com, is guaranteed roughly $24 million in his new deal, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.
Selected by the Phillies in the second round of the 2015 draft, Kingery dominated at Double-A and Triple-A last year, hitting .304/.359/.530 with 26 home runs, 29 doubles, and 29 stolen bases in 132 games, and the 23-year-old continued to rake in big-league camp this spring, going 20-for-51 (.392) with eight extra-base hits - including four homers - and four steals in 20 Grapefruit League contests.
Nevertheless, the Phillies were expected to option Kingery to Triple-A Lehigh Valley for the first few weeks of the season, effectively delaying the start of his MLB service-time clock to gain an extra year of control over him, but he's now expected to break camp with the team, a source told Matt Gelb of The Athletic.
Kingery is just the second player ever to sign a long-term deal before making his MLB debut, joining Jonathan Singleton, whose career, incidentally, stalled after he landed a five-year, $10-million from the Houston Astros ahead of his 2014 debut.