Orioles still have plenty of extension runway with Gunnar Henderson (for now)

Earlier this week, as part of a longer article about extension candidates, Jon Heyman revealed that last offseason, the Baltimore Orioles made Gunnar Henderson a formal contract extension offer, which he turned down. This had been in the air around Baltimore for a while. Henderson's agent, Scott Boras, has told Orioles reporters several times that he and Mike Elias talk all the time, and Elias himself has mentioned working with Boras to keep some of the Orioles' young stars he represents in Baltimore.

Last spring training, Orioles owner David Rubenstein told the media that he had a long conversation with both Henderson and Adley Rutschman about how he wanted them to be in Baltimore for a long time, the same way Cal Ripken and Jim Palmer were lifelong Orioles.

Keeping Gunnar Henderson in Baltimore should be the Orioles top priority starting now

So hearing that an offer was made was not surprising to Orioles fans, but having it officially reported was comforting. Now that Heyman, who is well-connected with Henderson's agent, has reported on the offer, Orioles fans can rest assured that their front office is at least trying to extend their franchise player.

There was no mention of what the contract was worth, but since the reporting is coming from Henderson's side, the fact that Heyman didn't reveal the number likely indicates that it's at least a substantial enough offer that Boras felt that revealing how much money his client turned down would be a bad look.

It's also not surprising that Henderson turned down the extension offer. When a player is represented by Scott Boras, it means they are serious about reaching free agency and signing the largest contract possible. There are a few exceptions, but generally, Boras clients do not sign team-friendly extensions and don't give teams a hometown discount. You either pay them what they're worth or they find someone who will, and Boras always finds someone willing to pay.

A couple of offseasons ago, people thought Boras might have overplayed his hand with some of his big free agents, Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, after they both had to sign much smaller contracts than originally anticipated. A year later, he got them both larger contracts than anyone thought possible. He's inevitable, and so is Henderson becoming a free agent.

With Henderson's free agency being an inevitability, that gives the Orioles three years to prepare to  offer Henderson a contract that pays him more than $50 million annually for at least 10 years. That means two things. They need to be making enough money to still be able to afford to build a team around him if they offer him that contract, and they need to make sure their books are full of bad contracts that will block them from being able to pay Henderson.

The good news is that the Orioles are well-positioned on both of those fronts. As far as making more money, that has been one of Rubenstein's most intense focuses since taking over the team. He hired former Mariners executive Catie Griggs to find ways to increase revenue. They've done some things that fans haven't been crazy about, like increasing the cost of season tickets and creating exclusive premium clubs that cater to the wealthy, but these things will be worth it if they help keep Henderson on the Orioles.

As far as the contracts on the books, that is Elias' specialty, and the Orioles don't have much to worry about in that department. As of right now, the only contracts definitely on the books when Henderson hits free agency are Alonso and Samuel Basallo. Whose contracts are worth about $38 million combined. So if the Orioles want to sign Henderson to a market-rate deal, they just need to go into that offseason understanding that they have to be able to build a team around Henderson, Alonso, and Basallo while they combine to make about $90 million.

For them to be able to do that, it will take planning and a willingness to spend on the roster that Orioles fans have not seen recently, but they have three years to figure it out.