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What Would a Shea Langeliers Extension Look Like?
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- What Would a Shea Langeliers Extension Look Like?
(Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images)
There were plenty of rumors swirling around Athletics ' catcher Shea Langeliers during the trade deadline, but a torn meniscus in his right knee put him on the IL at the end of July, and we never received a clear resolution about the club's thinking. He made it back from surgery in mid-September, so he's ready to go.
The question now is whether new president of baseball operations Taylor Smith sees him as a long-term building block, a key cog in the short term, or a trade piece.
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Based on Smith's comments at his introductory press conference, it would appear as though Langeliers is at the very least a short-term piece for this club . That could change quickly, however, if extension talks make a deal appear increasingly unlikely while the A's continue to fall short of expectations.
For now, let's focus on the extension part of this equation and try to figure out what an extension could look like.
Comping a Shea Langeliers Extension
In looking over the top 60 catcher extensions over at Spotrac , there is one key factor for a number of these extensions: they end at or around the age of 34. Some special cases like the Dodgers signing Will Smith through age-38 season or the Cardinals signing Yadier Molina through his age-35 season exist, but 34 is more or less the hard out for most clubs given how quickly catchers can stop producing due to the physicality of the position.
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Given that Langeliers is 28 until November 18, that would put this at a likely five-year extension. The A's could go to six if they really want to keep him, but it would also add some risk to the deal as well.
Cal Raleigh signed his six-year, $105 million extension ahead of his age-28 season in 2025, while former A's backstop Sean Murphy signed with the Atlanta Braves at the same age for six years and $73 million in late 2022. Here is how they have all compared offensively through their age-28 season:
| Games |
PA |
AVG |
OBP |
OPS+ |
BB% |
K% |
bWAR |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Langeliers |
541 |
2167 |
.240 |
.299 |
112 |
7.2 |
25.5 |
10.8 |
| Murphy |
438 |
1698 |
.240 |
.336 |
118 |
10.3 |
22.9 |
12.2 |
| Raleigh |
623 |
2465 |
.226 |
.314 |
127 |
10.8 |
28.2 |
18.6 |
Coincidentally, all three catchers began their big-league careers at the age of 24 in some capacity. While the total scope of these three catchers certainly favors Raleigh and Murphy, when we look at only the past two years as an indicator of what Langeliers could be, it's a lot closer competition.
| Games |
PA |
AVG |
OBP |
OPS+ |
BB% |
K% |
bWAR |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Langeliers |
229 |
990 |
.270 |
.326 |
125 |
7.4 |
21.4 |
6.9 |
| Murphy |
256 |
1050 |
.250 |
.346 |
124 |
10.0 |
21.1 |
7.7 |
| Raleigh |
312 |
1333 |
.234 |
.337 |
145 |
12.5 |
27.3 |
11.9 |
The injury Langeliers suffered certainly hurt his overall production here, but you can see when he's on the field, he's been a key contributor, as well as the strides he's made at the plate compared to his first couple of seasons.
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Of course, the other aspect here is the actual catching portion. Raleigh has graded out as a great framer (98th percentile in 2024, 93rd in 2025), as well as a terrific blocking catcher (95th percentile in 2026), but those rankings haven't come together in the same campaign yet.
For Langeliers, his pop time (92nd percentile in 2026) and caught-stealing above average (76th in 2026) have been his two reliable traits, while his framing has ranked in the 1st percentile (2024), 25th percentile (2025), and 14th percentile (2026) the past three seasons. His blocking topped out in the 45th percentile, but has otherwise been similar to his framing.
In 2022, at the age of 27, Murphy ranked in the 92nd percentile in blocking, the 95th percentile in framing, and the 96th percentile in pop time. He was right there again in his age-28 campaign.
Shea Langeliers Extension
It seems safe to argue that Langeliers won't be getting Cal Raleigh money, given the five-year nature of the deal, along with the fact that in two of those seasons he is still arbitration eligible. The A's aren't going to be paying him the market value for those two years, which deflates the total offer.
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The A's backstop is projected to make $8.7 million in 2027, and if he continues at the pace he's currently at, we're likely looking at a contract around $13 million to $14 million in 2028. If the A's came in at $20 million per year for the following three years, that would put the contract at $82.7 million over five years, good for an average annual value of $16.54 million.
That would be less than $1 million shy of Raleigh's $17.5 million AAV, and would also be a higher overall contract and AAV than Murphy, despite the Atlanta backstop having superior offensive and defensive numbers. All things considered, that could be enough of a win for Langeliers and his agent, Scott Boras, to consider it.
Coming off an injury, Langeliers may have a tough time getting a deal worth much more than that if teams aren't looking to go to the age-35 marker, given how some contemporary backstops have been paid previously.
