Braves, Albies agree to 7-year, $35M extension

The Atlanta Braves and second baseman Ozzie Albies have agreed to a seven-year contract extension worth $35 million, the team announced Thursday.

Albies' deal includes club options for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The options are for $7 million each with $4-million buyouts, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

"I look at it as, it's not just money. Because I'm not playing for money," Albies told David O'Brien of The Athletic. "I'm playing for my career. And I took (the deal) because I want my family to be safe."

For Albies, there's nowhere else he'd rather be, as he wants to remain in Atlanta for the long haul.

"I love being part of the Braves and I want to be a Brave for the rest of my life," Albies said, according to Kevin McAlpin of Braves Radio Net. "Since the first day I got to Atlanta, I loved everything around the city. It's great to be here for me, be home."

An All-Star in 2018, Albies is hitting .364/.429/.500 with 16 hits in 11 games played this season.

The 22-year-old has quickly become one of the top players at his position since debuting in the big leagues, authoring a career slash line of .272/.323/.456 with 31 home runs, 102 RBIs, and 24 steals in 226 games.

Defensively, his glove was worth plus-8 in defensive runs saved in 2018, good for third in the National League, according to FanGraphs. His solid work at second has been worth a plus-2 in DRS so far this season.

News of the extension comes nine days after Atlanta inked fellow youngster Ronald Acuna Jr. to an eight-year, $100-million deal.