Arizona Signs Brandon Pfaadt To $45 Million Contract Extension

The Arizona Diamondbacks took another step toward locking up their future by signing right-hander Brandon Pfaadt to a five-year, $45 million contract extension, a deal announced Friday.

Proactively rewarding young talent (see: Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll) has been an ongoing priority since general manager Mike Hazen took over in 2017, and it has been especially noticeable this spring.

Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo and reliever Justin Martinez also signed long-term extensions within the last two weeks.

Including the eight-year deal that outfielder Carroll signed before the 2023 season, the D-Backs have embraced the cost of playing at the high end of the National League.

“The commitment from Ken (Kendrick, managing general partner) is much appreciated, so we can get that type of player,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said.

“Without those resources, we can’t commit to those long term, and we get tired of watching our players move on after five or six years in free agency.”

The Diamondbacks lost multiple-Gold Gold first baseman Christian Walker and DH Joc Pederson to free agency last winter, and they face more uncertainty this offseason when the contracts of starters Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, third baseman Eugenio Suarez and first baseman Josh Naylor expire.

With Pfaadt in place, the D-Backs have three members of their starting rotation under contract through at least 2027, although Burnes’ six-year, $210 million free agent deal signed this winter permits him to opt out after the 2026 season.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez is signed through 2027 with a vesting option for 2028, and Pfaadt’s deal takes him through 2030 with a club options for 2031 and a mutual option for 2032.

Total outlay for those three starters under contract: $345 million.

Pfaadt’s signing was an event unto itself, Arizona general manager Mike Hazen said, but looking at it in context, it does gird the rotation in the event that Gallen and/or Kelly are elsewhere next season.

“Each one of these situations and circumstances are different,” Hazen said. “We’re going to address that as we continue to move through, whether that be in the offseason or whenever.

“The focus for right now is on the 2025 season and having the best season that we can. Those things are going to work themselves out in time. We don’t do these things to block something else off or not be able to do something else.”

Pfaadt’s contract, negotiated by Frontline Athlete Management. ia back-loaded, but together with the extensions to Perdomo and Martinez increase the Diamondbacks’ record payroll to slightly more than $189 million this season.

Arizona’s payroll is 13th in the major leagues and seventh in the National League behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs.

“Brandon falls very much in the group of players that we feel like getting some certainty around,” Hazen said. “What the future is going to look like is very important in terms of building a roster a roster and keeping this team together for as long as we can. We feel like these things are important for us.”

The Diamondbacks are betting on the future with Pfaadt, much as they have with the other young players they have signed in Hazen’s tenure.

Pfaadt was 11-10 with a 4.71 ERA in his first full season in the majors in 2024 after thriving in the Diamondbacks’ run to the 2023 World Series. He made 32 starts and threw 181 2-3 innings last season, both team highs.

As the Diamondbacks did with Carroll (eight years, $111 million) and Marte (five years, $76 million) before the 2023 season, they are getting Pfaadt at what fairly could be considered team-friendly terms considering the growth of the market, at least at the outset.

Hazen said the team waited until Pfaadt’s spot in the starting rotation was secure before offering the extension. Pfaadt, Jordan Montgomery and Ryne Nelson will competing for the fifth rotation spot this spring, although Pfaadt was considered the front-runner coming in.

“There is always a balance as to how these things get done,” Hazen said of doing the deal before the 2025 season, “and I think when there is shared risk on both sides that is when you have the best opportunity to get these things done. If he puts together a season like we know he is going to have, it changes the calculus. We may still get it done, it just changes some of the calculus for us.”

The Diamondbacks have a $21 million option with a $1 million option withn Pfaadt for 2031, and the sides have a $25 million mutual option in 2032. He can block a trade to five teams.

“The way he does out there and pounds the zone (and) is refining his stuff, there is a huge value,” Hazen said. “That is a skill set in this game with the way pitch counts get ratcheted up on guys and what it does to the ‘pen. He has shown those things, and he is going to keep putting it together as he gets older.”