How Tigers' Kevin McGonigle can earn $5 million if he's traded

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How Tigers' Kevin McGonigle can earn $5 million if he's traded originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Detroit Tigers made a huge decision a few weeks into the 2026 MLB Season, as they extended Kevin McGonigle on a long-term deal.

Detroit signed him to a $150 million, eight-year extension, keeping the Tigers prospect around through the 2034 season. It's a massive deal, and there's a bit more to this contract than meets the eye.

As Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic shared, if the Tigers were to ever trade McGonigle, he'd earn an extra $5 million. But, how? The 21-year-old Tigers star has a clause in his contract that will force whichever team acquires him to spend $5 million to do so.

Tigers' Kevin McGonigle can earn $5 million if he's traded​

"Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle didn't negotiate a no-trade clause in his eight-year, $150 million extension, but he got the next best thing," Rosenthal writes. "A $5 million assignment bonus any time his contract is moved to another club."

This assignment bonus isn't uncommon in Major League Baseball, but it being this high is a very noteworthy development.

What this means is that a team that is trading for McGonigle will have to pay the infielder $5 million to acquire him, on top of the package they'd send to the Tigers.

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This is even more appealing than that for McGonigle, as he'd earn this $5 million figure every time he's traded. While other contracts only have a one-time assignment bonus, McGonigle's deal has an unlimited amount.

Of course, the Tigers are incredibly unlikely to make such a trade and give McGonigle $5 million extra on top of his $150 million contract.

But it is an interesting wrinkle that could come into play six or so years in the future when trading him might be a bit more feasible.

More MLB news:​

• Braves predicted to trade Bryce Elder for Lars Nootbaar
• Jacob DeGrom is only 149 strikeouts from 2,000 for his career
• Mets didn’t want to trade Brett Baty while White Sox didn’t want Mark Vientos in Luis Robert Jr. trade
• Red Sox never close on Astros’ Isaac Paredes trade
• Shohei Ohtani deemed more valuable than Aaron Judge in recent ESPN discussion piece

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