Will 2025 Be the Year Of Lawrence Butler?
Last season in the green and gold, right fielder Lawrence Butler broke out after the All-Star break. After a rough start to his 2024 campaign, Butler was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. After working out some mechanical issues, the team recalled him--and neither party will look back after that.
Butler's second half was certainly one to remember. The 24-year-old outfielder batted .300 with a .898 OPS and 13 long balls and 12 steals after the All-Star break. Notably, Butler's month of July was most impressive with an OPS of 1.210, 10 home runs (yes, in one month), and a batting average of .363.
Lawrence Butler was serving as the team's leadoff hitter for a majority of the second half, which started the lineup off very well, but also set the table for other good hitters like Brent Rooker, JJ Bleday, and Shea Langeliers.
Sure, it was only half of a season, but in that time, Butler truly looked like he could be a future star for the Sacramento-bound Athletics. This off-season, the A's extended one of their star players in Brent Rooker, and now the club could be looking to extend Butler as well.
Sources: Lawrence Butler and A’s in ongoing contract extension talks https://t.co/AxgQBAKYlL
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) February 20, 2025
According to Evan Drellich from The Athletic, the A's and Lawrence Butler are reportedly in talks for a long-term extension. Since Rooker got an extension during his arbitration years, it wouldn't be surprising if the A's elected to dish out an extension to the promising outfielder for his pre-arbitration seasons.
If the team decides to extend Lawrence Butler, he will be a staple for the A's lineup for many years to come, and someone to possibly even build your team around. The sky is truly the limit for Butler. A's manager Mark Kotsay even hinted at a possible extension for the outfielder at his own contract extension press conference.
"Well, Lawrence, I do believe that we’ve been engaged in conversations about keeping that talent ... I look forward to that commitment to this talented group for the next several years.”
Lawrence Butler himself sounded excited at the possibility of staying with the organization for many years to come. He even set some goals this season, which included being selected for his first All-Star team, which is being played in his hometown of Atlanta. Butler also emphasized wanting to improve on the base paths and on defense and says he wants to win a Gold Glove award as well.
After the news broke about the extension negotiations, Butler showed up to Spring Training mashing baseballs. In just two games thus far in the Cactus League, he is 4-for-6 with a home run and a double, which is good for a .667 average and a 2.000 OPS. Obviously a small sample size, but he's certainly come out swinging.
With the ongoing extension negotiations, and him heading into hopefully what will be a strong full season, this year can really be special for him. One more strong season will not only earn him a nice paycheck, but could also help him reach his goals which include becoming an All-Star and maybe even winning a Gold Glove award.
I grew up playing baseball, and also enjoyed watching and writing about my favorite team, the A’s. Being a diehard A’s fan from New Jersey is certainly not common, but I love the team and all of the current and former players so much. I currently attend school at Penn State Scranton where I get the opportunity to play college baseball.