Bobby Witt Jr., Royals agree to record 11-year extension

Bobby Witt Jr., Royals agree to record 11-year extension

The Kansas City Royals and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. have agreed to an 11-year, $288.7 million extension, the largest deal in franchise history, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan first reported Monday.

The deal will have opt-outs after years seven (2030), eight (2031), nine (2032) and 10 (2033), plus a club option after year 11 that could tack on an additional three years, $89 million, Passan notes.

Witt is one of the best young shortstops in baseball. In his second full season in 2023, he slashed .276/.319/.495 with 30 home runs, 96 RBIs, 28 doubles, an MLB-most 11 triples with 49 stolen bases across 694 plate appearances (158 games). A year after finishing fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting, he finished seventh in AL MVP voting.

His luxury tax salary will be $26.3 million, but his salary breakdown will be slightly different. His cap hits will be as follows:

• 2024: $2.71M
• 2025: $7.71M
• 2026: $13.71M
• 2027: $19.71M
• 2028: $30.71M
• 2029: $35.71M
• 2030: $35.71M
• 2031: $35.71M
• 2032: $35.71M
• 2033: $35.71M
• 2034: $35.71M
• 2035: $33.0M
• 2036: $33.0M
• 2037: $33.0M

(Salary info is courtesy of Spotrac.)

This deal shatters the previous franchise record, which was Salvador Perez‘s in 2021, worth $82 million over four years (club option on 2026). It is great for baseball that the Royals–ranked in the bottom-nine in payroll each of the last five years, including in the bottom-seven in three of those seasons- are willing to ink their next franchise cornerstone before he reaches arbitration or, worse, free agency.

The Royals are one of many small-er market franchises to ink their best young players; the Diamondbacks signed Corbin Carroll to an eight-year, $111 million deal ahead of last season; the Seattle Mariners signed Julio Rodriguez to a 12-year, $209 million deal in Aug. of 2022. Even the Brewers signed No. 1 prospect Jackson Chourio to an eight-year, $82 million deal before he’s taken a swing at the MLB level.

This is excellent for baseball and fans of baseball; it’s fun for fans of said teams to root for franchise players, especially for a decade-plus without the risk of losing them in free agency or risk having their relationship with the organization tarnished in arbitration.

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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