Red Sox signing Ceddanne Rafaela to contract extension after just 38 MLB games

BOSTON -- Red Sox fans have certainly enjoyed watching Ceddanne Rafaela in the opening weeks of this season. And it seems like the front office was impressed, too.

The Red Sox agreed to a contract extension with the 23-year-old, as first reported by MassLive's Chris Cotillo and later confirmed by The Boston Globe's Alex Speier. Neither report had the details of the extension, though Cotillo reported that "yhe deal is expected to become official in the coming days."

Rafaela made his MLB debut last season, playing 28 games at the big league level and hitting .241 with a .666 OPS in 89 plate appearances while mostly playing center field. (He did spend 56.1 innings as an infielder.)

This year, as the Red Sox' primary center fielder, Rafaela is hitting .233 with a .686 OPS with a double, two triples, and a handful of highlight-reel plays in the outfield.

Originally signing with the Red Sox as an international free agent in 2017, Rafaela was not set to become arbitration-eligible until 2027, and he wasn't due to hit free agency until 2030. Presumably, the contract will give Rafaela a short-term pay bump with a fair salary through what would have been the arbitration years while likely buying out a year of free agency, thus keeping a promising prospect under contract through at least the 2030 season.