Tampa Bay Rays nearing contract extension with Kevin Kiermaier

The Rays are doing it!

They are actually doing it!

The Tampa Bay Rays reportedly are nearing an extension with perennial Gold Glove winning center fielder, Kevin Kiermaier.

Marc Topkin broke the news that the Rays were in the late stages of a long term deal with Kiermaier for six years, worth $50 million. Kiermaier was in his first year of arbitration thanks to his Super Two status. He would still have three more years of arbitration, but this extension would eliminate those years pf arbitration and potentially add on three extra years of team control.

So far over his brief major league career, Kiermaier has established himself as one of the top defensive players in baseball history, and he is pretty much the best defender in the game today. He already has two Gold Gloves to his named as well as a Platinum Glove.

His offensive game has been solid for his position as well as he has been a league average bat the past two seasons and that combined with his stellar defensive output has produced a total of 13.1 fWAR (average of 4.4 a season) and he is just 26 years old.

The deal is not yet official, but an announcement will likely come in the upcoming days.