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Tom Haley's Closing Time blog, March 15, 2024
Well, it's official.
I will be a member of the Atlanta Braves organization for the next four seasons. Yesterday I signed a three-year contract extension that will pay me $6.2 million a year in 2025, 2026, and 2027.
I'm taking a sizeable pay cut, so you probably think I'm crazy. I'm passing up the opportunity to try for a big payday on the free agent market for the security that comes from knowing I'll spend four more seasons with the team that brought me to the majors.
My wife has a job here that she loves, and we are enjoying raising our kids here. Plus, I'm looking down at a World Series ring on my right hand, a ring I won with the Braves last fall. That means a lot to me.
I've made a lot of money playing baseball, more than I ever dreamed I'd earn. I've invested it wisely, so I don't have to worry about earning every dollar I can make right now. I can think instead about where I'd like to play, and that's in Atlanta.
The events of the past few months remind me that in this day and age, if a winning team is going to keep winning, it needs to have money to spend. If the Braves can afford to keep talented players around because they're paying me less money, then we're more likely to win. A lot of people probably believe major league players are primarily motivated by greed. Sure, some guys are that way, but I've met very few in my time in the big leagues. Our clubhouse is full of guys who want to win, and that's one more reason why I'm happy here.
I was a little surprised to see Tom sign an extension that cut his pay nearly $5 million a year, so I had to devise a storyline that explained it...
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