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The San Diego Padres have signed their young star outfielder Jackson Merrill to a massive nine-year contract extension. This could give the SF Giants a model for a potential extension with outfielder Heliot Ramos.

Merrill had a phenomenal rookie campaign in 2024. He slashed .292/.326/.500 with 24 home runs and 90 RBI. He most likely would have been the NL Rookie of the Year had it not been for Paul Skenes, but he put the league on notice that he is a force to be reckoned with.

The Padres decided to get ahead of the game by signing him to a contract that goes through 2034 and will pay him $135 million in total. Would the Giants be willing to commit to something like this with Ramos?

Merrill contract extension gives SF Giants model for Heliot Ramos

Like Merrill, Ramos had a breakout season in 2024. It was not to the same extent but it was still incredibly impressive. In 121 games last year, Ramos slashed .269/.322/.469 with 22 homers and 72 RBI. He also got an All-Star nod for his efforts.

He has not missed a beat in 2025, starting off red-hot. In the team’s first six games of the season, he already has seven hits, three of which have left the ballpark and has also driven in seven runs.

Ramos looked like the real deal last season and he has not done anything in 2025 to shake that perception. Perhaps the Giants would be wise to look into an extension sooner rather than later.

The Giants would not have to commit to a nine-year deal like the Padres did with Merrill. The San Diego center fielder is still just 21 years old so this contract is covering the rest of his twenties. Ramos is 25 so perhaps the Giants could sign him to an extension that is somewhere in the neighborhood of five years.

The A’s made a similar move with Lawrence Butler recently, so teams are realizing it may be a wiser move to ensure a guy sticks around rather than wait until they hit free agency where they could be outbid by another team.

Ramos seems like a guy who is going to be a major presence in the Giants’ lineup for a while. If president of baseball operations Buster Posey and general manager Zack Minasian feel the same way, perhaps they should take a page out of San Diego’s playbook and ensure that their left fielder will remain in orange and black for a while.