Astros promote Jon Singleton, sign him to long-term contract extension

Today is a day to remember for Jon Singleton. The Astros first baseman was informed that he will be promoted to the major league roster for Tuesday's game, according to Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle, and has agreed to a long-term contract extension that keeps him under Astros' control for the next eight seasons, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.

The deal, which is the first of its kind for a player with zero major league service time, is guaranteed for five years and $10M, according to Passan. It also includes three club options for $2.5M in 2019, $5M in 2020 and $13M in 2020, along with $5M in bonuses and awards that could raise its valye to $35M. As Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com notes, Singleton is giving up a free agent year at $13M, and will still be able to hit the free agent market when he is 30 years old.

Singleton, who was originally drafted by the Phillies in the eighth round of the 2009 draft, joined the Astros' organization in the Hunter Pence trade in 2011 and has been widely-regarded as one of the best first base prospects in all of baseball. Before hitting .267 with 14 HR and 43 RBI in 54 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, he was ranked by Baseball America as the 82nd best prospect in the league, ranking among the league's top 100 prospects for the fourth straight season.

The Astros are known to be working on long-term extensions with many of their young players, and also have made offers to Robbie Grossman, Matt Dominguez, and rookie George Springer. The offer to Springer, who was regarded as a top prospect before his promotion, would have guaranteed him $7.6M over four years with three team options that could raise its value to $23M, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. That offer is strikingly similar in terms of average annual value to the one that Singleton has agreed to, guaranteeing $1.9M per year on the guaranteed portion of the contract compared to the $2M that Singleton will receive.