The Royals are retaining their franchise shortstop well into the next decade. Kansas City announced the signing of Bobby Witt Jr. to an 11-year extension on Monday afternoon. The Octagon client is reportedly guaranteed nearly $288.78MM on the largest contract in team history. Witt has multiple chances to opt out of the deal, as he’ll be able to test free agency after the 2030, ’31, ’32 and ’33 seasons. If he doesn’t exercise any of those opt-out clauses, the Royals would receive a three-year team option after the ’34 campaign. That’s an $89MM provision covering the 2035-37 seasons, bringing the deal’s maximum value to $377MM over 14 years. Witt has a full no-trade clause.
Witt receives a $7.777777MM signing bonus. The salaries break down as follows:
- 2024: $2MM
- 2025: $7MM
- 2026: $13MM
- 2027: $19MM
- 2028: $30MM
- 2029-34: $35MM annually
- 2035: $33MM
- 2036-37: $28MM annually
It’s a stunning deal that more than triples the previous franchise-record, which was the $82MM extension signed by Salvador Pérez in March of 2021. It was reported back in November that Witt and the club had engaged in some preliminary talks but it would have been fair for fans to be skeptical of anything getting done. The club’s payroll has never been higher than 15th in the league in recent years, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, making it hard to predict them for any kind of mega deal.
Witt is still fairly early in his career, having just two years of service time and not yet qualifying for arbitration. But even pre-arb deals for superstar players have grown to a massive scale in recent years. MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows that the Brewers gave Jackson Chourio $82MM before he even reached the majors. Players like Julio Rodríguez and Corbin Carroll got to $210MM and $111MM, respectively, before even getting to one year of service time. Witt has exactly two years of service, having cracked the club’s Opening Day roster in 2022. The apex for players between two and three years of MLB service is the 14-year, $340MM extension between the Padres and Fernando Tatis Jr.
Given those escalating prices and the typical low-spending ways of the Royals, it was difficult to see the two sides coming together and getting a deal done. But the Royals have extended well beyond their comfort zone, shattering their previous franchise record. For Witt, he didn’t quite get the same guarantee as Tatis but he could end up earning more than him via that option. The opt-outs also give him extra earning power, either by allowing him to test the open market or by leveraging those opt-outs into future contract talks with the Royals.
The fact that the Royals were willing to go to such extreme lengths is a reflection of Witt’s incredible talents as a player. The second overall pick in the 2019 draft, behind only Adley Rutschman of the Orioles, Witt showed his potential with a solid rookie showing in 2022. As mentioned, he cracked the club’s Opening Day roster, and eventually appeared in 150 games that year. His 4.7% walk rate was on the low side, but he limited his strikeouts to a 21.4% clip while launching 20 home runs. His .254/.294/.428 line was just a bit below average, wRC+ of 98. He also stole 30 bases, though his glovework wasn’t highly rated, split between shortstop and third base.
Last year, he took steps forward in just about every respect of his game. He decreased his strikeout rate to 17.4% while bumping his walk rate slightly to 5.8%. His home run tally jumped from 20 to 30 and he increased his steal tally to 49. His .276/.319/.495 batting line led to a wRC+ of 115, indicating he was 15% better than league average at the plate.
On the defensive side of things, he stayed at shortstop all year and seemed to cement himself as a viable franchise cornerstone there. Defensive Runs Saved wasn’t too enthused, giving him a grade of -6, but that was still an upgrade over the -18 he was tagged with at shortstop the year before. But Ultimate Zone Rating gave him a positive grade of 3.2 in 2023 while his tally of 14 Outs Above Average was one of the best in the league. Only Dansby Swanson, Willy Adames and Ezequiel Tovar racked up more OAA among shortstops last year.
That combination of offense, speed and defense makes him one of the most exciting and valuable players in the league. His 5.7 wins above replacement via FanGraphs was 11th among all position players last year and he finished seventh in American League Most Valuable Player voting.
It’s been a rough few years for the Royals, as they just lost 106 games last year and haven’t been above .500 since 2015. But it seems there has been a concerted effort this winter to give the fans more reasons to be excited. The club has given significant deals to free agents like Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Hunter Renfroe, Adam Frazier, Will Smith and Chris Stratton in an effort to improve the club’s chances in 2024. Witt was already on the roster and this deal won’t alter the club’s fortunes in 2024, but it does send a strong message that they are willing to commit to a player they feel can be the face of the franchise for years to come.
Owner John Sherman only purchased the team towards the end of 2019 and things have been fairly dreary for the franchise since then, as they have struggled to emerge from a lengthy rebuild. But the club has been trying to secure government funding for a new stadium and perhaps this offseason’s spending is an attempt to build some good will between ownership and a fanbase that hasn’t had much to cheer about lately.
Regardless of the motives, it’s a massive deal and surely an exciting one for the supporters. Witt is one of the most talented players in the league and he’ll now be locked into the Kansas City lineup for the foreseeable future. His first opt-out chance will come after 2030, which will be his age-30 campaign. At that point, he’ll be deciding whether to stick around or leave four years and $140MM on the table to become a free agent. Assuming he continues to perform at a superstar level, that would be a fairly easy decision. He could likely double that even with today’s dollars and seven years of inflation would only help him. But it seems that he and the club have a good relationship, so perhaps another deal could be worked out to keep him with the Royals at that point.
“I am incredibly grateful to the Sherman family and the Royals front office for believing in me,” Witt said on X today, “and I promise to do everything in my power to help bring championship baseball back to Kansas City! Let’s go!!”
Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the Royals and Witt were in agreement on an 11-year, $288.8MM deal. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reported the deal included a three-year team option. Passan reported the inclusion of opt-out clauses after years seven, eight, nine and ten; Passan was also first to report the $89MM value of the three-year option as well as the $7.78MM signing bonus. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the specific salary breakdown. FanSided’s Robert Murray had reported on Sunday that the Royals and Witt had reopened extension talks. Jon Heyman of The New York Post relayed the full no-trade clause.
Congrats royals fans
indeed
This really only guarantees BWJ is in Royal Blue for seven more seasons. No chance in hell he doesn’t opt out asap.
And congratulations Bobby Witt, Jr. – he is set for life (and actually for multiple lifetimes)!
Could have. Could of isn’t a real phrase.
What I once said to someone was, “look at those two words. Think about what each one means. Then ask yourself what the f*** you were thinking putting them next to each other.”
You could have spent your time doing something else besides being the grammar police…dou$he canoe!
Mk
“Could of isn’t a real phrase.”
Sure it is
Just like “Coulda” is a real word
People write it and it conveys meaning.
Really, u know what he was saying.
Thought processes like this are why kids can’t write, read or tell time now.
pp
“Thought processes like this are why kids can’t write, read or tell time now.”
Thought processes like what?
Also, interesting usernane
language is always evolving. So what if “could have” has morphed into “could of?” Language is for communicating thoughts and I understood what 99captainjudge99 meant when he wrote “could of”. It’s not a big deal unless
@avenger65 It hasn’t morphed. You are saying “could’ve” instead of “could have”, but people are just too dumb to write it correctly
You can keep pressing your point that it’s really fine to be illiterate, but it’s an interesting hill to die on. If your point is that the original person was being pedantic and people understood, then fine, but you seem to be saying that it’s great to just type whatever you feel like and hope people excuse your ignorance.
It’s probably a fine approach on the internet, but I hope you approach work/life differently.
They don’t think it be like it is but it do.
BH
Or it’s the difference between prescriptivism and descriptivism.
-a descriptivist
I “‘could of’ ‘cared less,’ ‘irregardless’ of ‘intensive purposes,’ the meaning was ‘literally’ clear.”
I kid! But with written/printed words, it is easier to be judgemental on the topic.
But considering my tendency for typos especially when on mobile device and screen sensitivity declines as wear and tear occurs.
‘Your’ all free to judge me, even though we are each better people with less judging and more empathizing for other humans.
3rd para was to end with a : and not a period.
pf
What a dominate comment
This will cost the Orioles a billion dollars.
People write it and it conveys meaning.
=========================
If I understand what they writer is seeking to convey, there is no need to correct the grammar. Didn’t someone once say that language is a living and growing thing?
You can keep pressing your point that it’s really fine to be illiterate,
=============================
Did you really mean to use the word “illiterate”?
il·lit·er·ate
/i(l)ˈlidərət/
adjective
adjective: illiterate
unable to read or write.
I would make a substantial wager that 99 can both read and write. But I would prefer not to have to correct your writing.
I cringe a little when I see “could of” or words like “irregardless,” but it’s silly to jump on it in an informal internet forum. Unless that person is slamming someone else for their usage. Then they’re fair game.
Paddyo:
Clearly testing us ‘ your’ obviously should be “ You’re”. You knew it, I know it. What do I win?
@Cubsfan….Sorry no prizes given here ;(
It did have single quotes around it too!
Super helpful Joe – thanks ;0) I guess I meant stupid, but didn’t really want to be mean.
Fili – I understand that ‘descriptivism’ is a linguistic approach imagined over 150 years ago and is valid. In fact, I never care about grammar / spelling on the internet, so I’m just jumping in as a thought exercise. Having said that, your application of that term seems like one created by a millennial to acknowledge that they don’t really understand how to communicate with adults in the business world. For MLBTR, it is sufficient, however.
BH
“Having said that, your application of that term seems like one created by a millennial to acknowledge that they don’t really understand how to communicate with adults in the business world.”
Terrible guess
Cap the grammar cops are a lot of fun at parties smh I know it’s just busting balls in fun way …. No need to call people dumb ignorant uneducated when we talking baseball …. My fellow Yankees fan do our yanks sign Snell or another starter before opening day?
The Yankees need to give Soto a massive extension. The protection he gives judge will be monumental. Rizzo and Torres could each knock in 100 runs. Biggest signing of the offseason if they do it. Im honestly shocked they didn’t have an agreement when the trade was announced
yanksfan75 – what a STUPID question!!! Sorry – just kidding, couldn’t resist. I agree with your overall comment, and will pull out of the fray ;0)
Big Hurt
Super helpful Joe – thanks ;0) I guess I meant stupid,
========================
Just to once again be even more helpful, you probably didn’t mean to use the word “stupid”. I see people every day that have issues with numbers, but not grammar. I don’t consider them stupid simply because their training and focus is different than mine.
I bring that up for a specific purpose. Some people think they are smart because they have a college degree. Getting a degree in philosophy if more a function of having four years available and a couple of hundred thousand.
Meanwhile, I have to pay someone a gazillion $$$ because they can break down my transmission into a thousand pieces and re-assemble it perfectly. IMO, that’s requires a lot more intelligence than knowing could of or adding up columns of numbers.
The racist frog doesn’t like grammar police either, imagine that.
Joe, also on message boards people are allowed not to be perfect. These aren’t thesis papers for PhD degrees. As long as the message is conveyed, that should do the trick.
WB
“What I once said to someone was, “look at those two words. Think about what each one means. Then ask yourself what the f*** you were thinking putting them next to each other.””.
That’s…. The wrong part of the sentence to look at, though.
You need to look at the present perfect structure, which is “have done”, because “of done” (or any other past participle) is the part that doesn’t make sense
Maybe don’t be so smug when you don’t actually know what you’re talking about.
No worries at all Hurt!
How’s ‘bout “coulda”?
“Of” is a preposition, not a verb. Language doesn’t “evolve” the way you are purporting. It’s an error. “Of” has not “morphed” into a totally different part of speech
If you don’t care to use correct spelling, you don’t care to communicate your point. So those people should just not bother commenting.
“Stupid” and “careless” would both be appropriate. He constantly commits this error, so clearly he does not know how to write in English correctly. Another good word would have been “semiliterate.”
Ellipses have three dots, not four.
Punctuation marks are placed inside of quotation marks in American English.
When there are quotations inside of quotations, we use the single quotation marks (i.e. ‘ ‘).
I suggest it may be you who shouldn’t be so smug when you don’t have a good grasp of writing conventions.
At least that sounds like “could have,” unlike “could of.”
With all due respect, I think this is an elitist attitude. Message boards should be informal and not require dissertation level grammar & syntax. Also it’s probably better to encourage people to share in these environments rather than to nitpick on them which can act as a disincentive to join a community. In this day and age, for a healthier national spirit we should encourage participation instead of shaming people out of it.
Or maybe it is helpful to people who don’t know better. When someone makes the same mistake every single time, they clearly don’t know what is correct.
It also gets annoying when you see the same mistakes over and over again. Almost as annoying as people who incorrectly write “prolly,” despite there not being a single human who pronounces the word that way.
@OIC2021
What are you even talking about? They just signed two starters this off season and they can also continue draft and develop. This move has no real impact on future pitching. The Royals don’t even really give out long term deals to Starting Pitchers in the first place so this is little harm. Meanwhile they locked up a SS who had an incredible season. Don’t be such a downer dude
If he does opt out, then his value will have exceeded his price.
KCR fans would take that.
This guarantees the trade to the yankees and dodgers for witt, jr is less likely and KC can actually keep productive players.
This really isn’t a run for the championship, more like a trot.
So much, good or bad, can happen in so many years
People also after realize we’re out of the Covid era now and spending will increase in sports as well as caps and floors
It is ridiculous, OIC2021. It reminds me of the Mariners and Robinson Cano a few years ago.
Even if Witt could lead them to a championship, the team is bound to him almost forever.
@Murphy NFLD caps and floors in MLB? HAHAHA Where? When? NOT A CHANCE. Zero chance. Lol
He’s not being a downer. He’s trolling cause half the people on here have nothing nice to say. I dont like the direction the league is going with these crazy career long contracts but this was an absolute must for KC. Witt has mega star potential. I saw him play my Astros in spring training a couple years back and thought he was ready for the show then. He and Ruschman were both slam dunk franchise cornerstones in that draft
When I commented earlier, I didn’t realize how young Witt is.
So I should have kept my mouth shut. The kid is a real phenom.
He’s getting pre-arb level money in 2024 and arb level money in 2025-2027. He doesn’t get expensive until 2028 and he’ll probably be worth $30 mil/yr then. Looks like a great deal for first 7 years.
2017&22,
Curious where you saw the Royals play the Astros in spring training a couple years back, since one plays in Arizona and the other in Florida.
In what way? Cano was a free agent on the wrong side of 30 starting his decline years, Witt is 23 and was drafted and developed by KC.
It was during Covid in 2020. They played at kauffman stadium before the short season started. I just had to look it up because you made me feel like a moron lol. Luckily for my confidence in my 40 year old head i was right. Witt was amazing
I dont like the direction the league is going with these crazy career long contracts
=============================
It’s kind of funny to me. It seems like half the people have a problem paying the players, and half the people have a problem with the players not getting enough.
To me, it’s like me buying the Honus Wagner card, or hiring someone to put up new bead board in my bathroom.
I’m sure both sides have a good idea of where they are going, so I don’t see any reason why people would care either way.
Joe. I truly only care about one thing. And that’s fans getting to experience winning a championship with their families before we all go to forever sleep. Every fan deserves that. It’s getting impossible in MLB. Im pro player but these contracts are seriously hurting every organization’s chances at competing. The Rays are probably on the hook for all of Wander’s contract and he might not ever play again.
I hate opt outs, as there is no chance of surplus value. If the player does well, as you suggest, then he gets to leave and make more money. If his career goes sideways, the team is stuck with an albatross.
Great for the player. Honestly, it’s not my money. So, the Royals can do whatever they want with it. But, if I were a GM, I’d never do this. If it meant losing the player, that’s okay.
Fred Park.. Yes, he is. And this IS the only kind of contract KC and their market could legitimately offer. He’s gonna be elite but IF he loves KC and knows he just got lifetime paid, and doesn’t fall for the NY /LA hype at opt out time, he’ll be a legend for staying!
I figure Wander goes on the restricted list for the rest of the contract with the commissioner’s (i.e. the owners’) approval. Hard to see anyone fighting to get him paid.
The plot thickens – how does Jerry Reinsdorf respond? LOL!!!!
Those things are mutually exclusive. If he can’t get off restricted list he can’t get paid.
17&22 actually no Rays are not most likely on the hook. If Wander is found guilty of any charges related to his current case the Rays will invoke the morality clause in his contract.
And Royals might not be best example for fans not seeing a championship in their lifetimes. Seeing as they won a World Series in last 10 years. And with 30 teams players could be paid nothing and there is still a chance fans will never see a championship. Sorry that’s just how probabilities work.
Oh that’s cool. I love Kauffman.
Yankees would love a 30 HR hitting .276 BA infielder. I bet they would love is AJ hit .276 and 30 HRs every season for 10 years.
It’s getting impossible in MLB.
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I don’t think that’s true. Since 1979, 25 different teams have won a WS. And since 2001, a remarkable 15 different teams have won.
And of the 5 that have no WSC since 1979, I think only two qualify as small market teams. And some of this is just statistical noise. If everyone was exactly even, in a space of 44 years, I’d bet that not all 30 teams would win a WSC.
Yeah, after the 2030 season it’ll be 6 years for $194 million. My calculations value those years ~$155 million in present value. I would imagine that will be fairly light by 2030.
The Royals/Astros played some exhibition games in 2020 but I also believe that they had exhibition games during ST a couple years ago, too.
I know I have travelled to both Phoenix and Florida for spring training, so it’s also entirely possible that the 17&22 fan went to Phoenix at one point.
If he’s barred from the US he won’t get paid a penny. If he’s suspended, he’ll be on the restricted list and won’t receive a penny. During the season when he went on the restricted list, the Rays agreed to pay him his salary during the investigation, but they’re under no obligation to continue next year and can’t if the US bars him from entering the country
“Guarantees” and “less likely” don’t work together in a sentence.
I’m no math expert but isn’t 11 years a long time in baseball years?
Hopefully it works out better than Alex Gordon
Respectfully disagree. He helped bring a WS ring to KC.
two World Series appearances and a championship is worth it’s weight in gold. Far more valuable than whatever any team pays a player for sure!
Royals have gotten more out of Alex Gordon than the Angels have gotten out of both Trout and Ohtani.
Can’t agree with stretching it that far.
Then the contract needs to be a little a longer. The Royals current model is ~20 years of being bad followed by a couple years of playoff appearances.
Sure, but then they signed him to a lucrative contract after the two World Series appearances.
Respectfully, Alex Gordon didn’t extend until after the World Series
The first option year will be his age 35 season. So yeah, if not his whole career this extension will cover the prime of his career for sure.
First option is in yr 7 so he’ll be 30
No the first option year is year 11.
Edit: Actually it is 12 – 14
No, that’s an opt out clause after year 7. Option years are different things.
The first club option. BWJ has his first option seven years from now.
That seems like a ton of money to guarantee with an opt out after year 7 considering he was already under control for 4 years. I’m surprised the Royals didn’t insist the opt out was a year or two later.
Great contract for Bobby Witt Jr.
It is a lot of opt out years.
Yea, Bobby Witt scored on that one. Basically a 3 year free agency contract that additionally guarantees an additional 8 years of potential injuries or declining effectiveness.
that is still 3 additional years of control, so nothing to sneeze at.
An “opt-out” is the same as a “player option.”
Seems risky to me…I have a feeling Royals fans will be lamenting this in about 5-6 years.
Degaz: I guess whenever can prognosticate about something several years in the future, they can always take the negative side of things. Who will prove you wrong?
seems like a great deal for me given what he’s shown, but I guess we’ll see how it works out. Generally it comes down to health / injuries
11 years is nothing when you are in early 20’s. Royals likely won’t have him in 11 years. He likely opts out at 7 age 30 and gets another 300 400 million deal. If he doesn’t opt out it will be a long miserable 11 years for Royals ownership and fans.
Nice good for him! And hope he stays healthy.
He’s a kid MLB should market more for sure.
Wow
Big move by KC. Maybe they’re actually getting serious after the other moves to raise the floor this off-season.
Yeah I like what they’ve done so far
Would be cool to see them sneak into the playoffs this year. That division is wide open.
They have a lot of ground to make up. Not sure if their moves are enough to jump to the top in one season, but if they continue to add and develop, they could be at the top within 2 or 3 years.
Big move for sure. This rebuild has gone on for a long time. I don’t follow them closely but their farm system doesn’t seem good enough and don’t think they done enough in free agency to make a playoff push. It is a weak division though so if they have injury luck they could be alright.
Nice, good for him. Hopefully he stays out of trouble and stays healthy.
What would indicate to you that he would be in trouble.? There’s a lot I don’t know about a lot of things, but I hadn’t heard that this was a possibility.
I’m sorry that you inferred that I thought he was at risk of getting into trouble. I was genuinely just expressing hope that given he just secured a very strong financial future, that he does well and stays healthy.
I likely could have phrased it differently for sure, so again, I apologize for my statement being at risk of being poorly perceived.
ask fernando tatis jr, alex rodriguez or that tampa player.
I Wander who you could be referring to from Tampa.
yep, and none of them really had a cause for concern before the deal (even if all of Wanders stuff was before he signed, no one knew about it).
The Wander thing makes me wonder why teams do not insist on players moving stateside and living state side.in the offseason. Go back and visit a few weeks at most, but relocate family ect. Oscar Tavares died years ago in a crazy car accident- since things are just different down there (and remember there was a time where Tavares was the top prospect in baseball)
Good move for KC!
Royals spending!
This is ACTUALLY good for the game.
Yes it is nice to see a smaller market make this kind of commitment to a young stud like Witt. Definitely good for the game in my opinion
Hopefully his contract won’t be reason to not spend in the future. It is the Royals, afterall.
Royals with the big D energy
Out of trouble ? Seriously the kid is as good as it gets. He has a head on shoulders. He isn’t stupid
Money can make some people stupid. I have no reason to think it will in his case; just pointing out that it’s certainly a non-zero sum proposition.
We’re going to see the difference between Witt and Wander Franco. Witt won’t be showing up at a AA facility for rehab in a Rolls Royce with $100+ grand in jewelry left unlocked in the car safe.
Thank goodness they don’t have 14 year olds in Kansas City!
Agree.
He strikes me at the type who always remembers to lock his bling away while not in use.
Well the big difference is that money isn’t new to him. While his dad didn’t make 200M he did do good for himself.
He doesn’t need daddy’s $. Being a high draft pick he got a large signing bonus. 2 mlb years at 700 grand. Probably some endorsements.
He grew up around money. So money isn’t new to him. You give $20 million to a kid who grew up with little money so many times they can’t handle it.
Good to see Royals committing to their future.
Pretty good bag of cash.
Great move for the Royals, this is how you get ahead. The Braves should be a shining example of what locking up your young guys can do
Where are the royals getting all this money from??
C’mon Taco, MLB teams are making money hand over fist. Congrats KC fans and B-Witt
Tacoshells
They have to have it stashed somewhere from all the years of *checks notes* Gil Meche being one of their biggest contracts ever (and the $12 million he gave back when he retired rather than play the last year)
Gil Meche at $12M in 2024 still looks like an overpay
Bro, every team got $200m in 2018 via revenue sharing.
They’ve had it all along.
From his teammates. He doesn’t start making big $ for a few years. He is the only long term contract. They can afford 130 million payroll. They can afford 1 30 million a year player.
Future Royals HOFer
That would be exceedingly cool.
9 years with Royals. 12 with Dodgers Yankees. Better win a championship in KC.
Glad to know the young SS won’t be signing with the LAD in a few years! Great job KC!
As a Royals fan, I can honestly say I’m very surprised…surprised the team would do it and surprised he would want to stay based on their history. But I’m pleased. Maybe a new era is upon us.
That’s a lot of bag. I can’t say I would turn that kind of money down with an opt-out at 30 y.o. He also has additional incentive to sign with his father being his agent. Not everyone has a Scott Boras chirping in his ears constantly.
They couldn’t treat you awful enough to make you turn down that extension. Even Juan Soto wouldn’t turn that down.
Soto turned down more money.
Awesome move! Congrats KC! Is it me or are teams not splashing FA as hard and taking a little page from AA? Maybe FA’s will start signing for less to be franchise players again.
Free agency huge awful contracts as usual. Team friendly extensions have been around since the 90s. And AA would have signed him for much less.
Royals raising eyebrows this winter.
Hey Dolan – small markets can do it.
Quit being a cheapskate.
Didn’t Dolan give long term extensions to Ramirez and Perez (second baseman)?
There are plenty of clubs that don’t do that…
Ramirez only took the below market extension. If he’d wanted market value he’d be playing elsewhere.
It’s gonna be interesting to watch Andres and Witt’s careers play out. Not so sure Witt is going to be significantly more valuable from a WAR standpoint over the next 5 years
Awesome.
Baltimore just got sticker shock for all their young guys!
And the Reds! Yeesh.
Naw this is how it should be done. Extend these guys well into their prime. A lot of these contracts teams are only getting 1 or 2 years additional. This one and tatis are career contracts so worth a lot more.
Adley should be locked up already, I can only imagine how big his deal will be. Maybe exceed 300M. Elite player at a premium position.
Mauer never lived up to that extension he got. That being said – I’d take the risk on Adley. There’s quite the advantage to have the best player at any particular position
Nope, buying Adley’s 30 year old and up seasons would be a bad investment for a light-hitting first basemen, which is where you can expect him to be playing by that age.
Lock up Gunnar!
Royals were not gonna be cheap this winter.
KC spending some money? Wow.
Royals ruining baseball
/S
Deferring their next good season until 2038
Fing LOL! Well done!
Nothing is wrong with this. Royals are having a great offseason.
Congrats to Witt’s bank account, and also never playing meaningful baseball for the next 14 years. It’s a fair trade off for the $$$, but it will become tiring.
777,777,777,777,7..7…77777…
Mike Trout’s annual Labor Day BBQ will have some new company.
After 7 years he will opt out and sign with a super team.
DJ LeMahieu’s current contract will have expired by then.
@LD99, looks to be the best of both world’s for Witt. He has a worst $288 million locked in, but he also has the ability to opt out after year six and multiple years after. If he stays healthy, very unlikely he’ll be in KC past 2029.
Looks like I was off by one year. He can opt out after year 7. So the Royals buy out three years of free agency, but he can still hit the open road for more money at age 30. Maybe he’ll absolutely love it in KC, but I wouldn’t bet on it. If he is as good as he appears, they’ll be a ton more cash out there waiting for him.
Hopefully he doesn’t turn out to be a pedo. Congrats Royals fans!!!
If you’re referring to Franco, the definition of a pedo is not a 14 yr old. If he was a pedo, his career in MLB would be over.
Excuse me? 14 years old is still a child!
cr
Wn is correct. The definition of a pedophile is not “a 14 year old”
Nor is it someone who sexually abuses a 14 year old.
Still, if Franco is found guilty, his career is probably over
If the reports are true, then his MLB career is going to be over. If it had turned out he was having relations with a 17-year-old when he was 20, he’d get the equivalent of a slap on the wrist and would return to the game after a suspension. A 21-year-old with a 14-year-old, while paying money to the mother to prostitute out the daughter is multiple levels of crimes. Maybe he’s innocent and the stories leaked are incorrect, but it’s not looking good at all for Franco.
Oh, it’s over.
His career is essentially over in the MLB, 14 year Olds are middle schoolers dude….
Do they have middle schools in that country? I seriously don’t know.
Definition is wrong ok. 14 isn’t as bad as say 4. But if what he done is true you still think he has a career? You want to cheer for a 20 something who messes around with 14 year olds? I haven’t followed it much. If he was 17 18 ok not as bad. 1 girl not as bad. Sounds like it is multiple girls and he was in 20s. Does he have kids? A wife? I haven’t paid much attention to it. Baseball is a product. I don’t this is a guy you want to sell to consumers.
Used to work in Adult Probation and we did pre-sentence investigations in cases such as this. The age is only a factor regarding conviction, but sentencing considers the actual maturity of the “victim” and long-term intentions of the perp. Of course MLB will not be concerned about the finer details; only the image of MLB. There are ways to modify a negative image, but that’s going to be difficult, as he’s married w/children. Give a moron lots of $$ and this is just one of many negative results.
His career in Mlb baseball is over.
Not necessarily, but it may be awhile. Not likely to be much prison time if any, but MLB is only going to base their decision on their own investigation. Regardless, it’s an incredibly stupid move on his part.
Won’t play this season for sure.
It’s the reported exchange of money between Franco and the mother that’s really going to lead him to a jail cell.
He will never be eligible for a visa to get in the US again. It doesn’t matter what baseball does.
He will likely be fine ray fan. It’s unlikely a famous athlete with hundreds of millions on the line would risk losing it. Royals hopefully done some investigation. You could probably see him dating beautiful early 20 something’s on social media. As a millionaire he can date 18 to 25 year olds until his 50s at least. Might have to settle for 25 to 35 in his 60s 70s. I think he will be alright. Rays just got unlucky and signed a reckless sex addict who didn’t care about inappropriate relationships or the law. Didn’t do a good enough investigation or maybe Franco is a criminal mastermind but it doesn’t appear to be the case.
wow he can opt out when hes 31 :0
Why aren’t the Yankees signing Volpe for 11 years and $288.7 Million?
Probably waiting until he proves he can hit major league pitching.
What do you mean? His OPS was only 30 points below Stanton. That’s $325 Million territory right there.
LOL, true.
Anthony Volpe absolutely impressed me. You can’t just look at sabermetric stuff. At 22 he hit for a ton of power, stole bases, and played very good defense for a rookie. All in the pressure cooker that is NY. Easily the Yanks best position player since Judge
A bit of an exaggeration with the ton of power. He was a horrible hitter last year which ever way you look at it.
48 extra base hits. 21 hrs as a 22 year old. His iso was .174. Jose Ramirez had a .150 iso at 23 years old. I think you want him to fail versus looking at whats under the hood. He’s gonna be good
I am looking under the hood. He wasn’t a great hitter in the minors. He wasn’t good last year. His numbers were well below league average. They gave him a gold glove with the 6th highest errors in baseball. One of the most over hyped players in history. I hope the Yankees give him a long term deal.
Jeremy pena won the gold glove with a ton of errors. It all about defensive runs saved, ultimate zone rating, etc. Volpe is going to be a terrific player. If you dont think so that’s totally fine but what you are saying is garbage. His minor league profile screams star. Check out his baseball reference stats in the minors. Power/ speed plus defense. Im not gonna get in a silly argument with you. You clearly hate the kid
A minor league profile of a below.800 ops in the high minors isn’t screaming star. It translates into what you got. A well below average ops of .666 no matter what age a player is. People usually shut down debates like you did when they have no real fact to debate.
I don’t get it either. Maybe, MAYBE he could handle second base but in no way is Volpe truly a full-time MLB shortstop. The gold glove award boggles the mind, because the few Yankee games I watched last year the kid looked in over his head. It was kind of cringe sometimes, he had that look in his eyes like “I don’t belong.”
Because he’s not very good.
They weren’t smart enough to sign Judge for 288. Same ownership and gm.
Good Going Royals…extend your better players. Something USELESS Ross Atkins in Toronto failed to do with Bo Bichette !!
Undeniable.
Takes two to tango. Maybe Bo was never going to extend, minus a king’s ransom.
They apparently had money for Ohtani, Atkins just failed to extend him…
Sherman era in effect!!
I love Bobby Witt Jr!!!! Glad he’s staying in KC!
Won’t be a Dodger until he’s in his early 30’s
Right ! Great move by KC ! When they are trending toward a 100 losses one season soon – it ain’t like he won’t waive the no trade clause. So for 77777777 million- they actually increased his trade value !
I didn’t know Kansas City was capable of spending this kind of money. Looks like the Royals found their Mahomes.
They can spend 130 a year. He will max out at 30 some. That leaves 100.
We didn’t know the Marlins could afford Stanton at his contract. I noticed there has been no mention of a no trade clause, just opt outs for Witt. If things go sideways for any reason, paying it down to trade him is still a viable option.
He’s likely to have a similar career as Corey Patterson. But Kansas City has very little financial commitments, so whatever, I guess.
That is funny. Witt is about 1 season behind Patterson’s career WAR. Patterson never showed what Witt has this early at any stage of his career.
He has speed and power, but he doesn’t draw enough walks or hit for a high BA and his defense is middling. He will never be a true star.
His defense is middling at best. It was very bad in 2022 and could easily regress to being bad/very bad again.
You need to consider trends for players this young. Witt had a .929 OPS after 6/1, with a 50/21 K/W. That’s pretty good.
So he moves to 3B. He’d stand out there as well, since its a fairly weak position through the sport.
.270 is the new .290 my man. Compared to when Patterson played there are half as many people who hit .300 than there are in today’s leaderboards.
A guy like Juan Pierre would be an all star in today’s game if he produced the numbers today like he did in his playing time.
Alvo just checking in here to see how you feel about Bobby leading the league in games played, hits, and batting average this year. Also seeing how you feel about him carrying a 332/389/588 line, 9.4 WAR, a shoe in for 2nd in MVP voting, and a +1.2 dWAR since you said his defense is middling?
Also curious to see how you feel about his 9.4 WAR this year compared to Corey Patterson’s career 9.7 WAR?
I haven’t seen a take this bad in a long time and had to come back to remind you how bad this was.
Alvo just checking in again, looks like since my last reply Witt ended up winning a GG for his “middling defense” as you called it.
So far this season through 2 months he is sitting with a 2.6 WAR hitting 293/353/484 leading the league in doubles and has 19 stolen bags to go with that.
Let me know when you want to take back this horrible take about him ending up like Patterson.
What a clown.
Over 300 million when we have millions in america starving
They wouldn’t be starving if they were good at baseball.
career minor leaguers are good at baseball
The KC Royals have donated 23 Million dollars in grants. I’m sure Bobby Witt Jr will establish (if he hasn’t already) some foundation supporting a cause he endorses. You sit here and post about your big ticket gambling and unless you’re giving it to some some soup kitchen, p_iss off with your BS.
Minor leaguers eat good. Only lazy mentally ill people starve in USA. Feel bad for mentally ill but not the lazy.
There are not millions starving in america.
We have millions of people who deal with food insecurity and are a bad break away from being on the streets on top of the sizable number who already are. “Starving” is a bit hyperbolic but it’s closer to the mark than you seem fo be.
Agreed. If that one bad break happened, they would be African like starving. The average person totally doesn’t have thousands of expenses they could downsize
I mean I agree in principle but it’s a drop in the bucket when you compare it to the trillions of bucks that go to bombing people half way round the world, corporate subsidies and rich people tax breaks. Right sentiment wrong target imo.
Agreed. Rich people’s money should be the governments,.
And? If the owner gave this money to the government to solve the issue, guess what, people would still be starving. It’s not the responsibility of private businesses to solve government issues.
We live in a society, and we are in this together
How is starvation a government issue? Good lord. Lots of good people are helping with starvation and they don’t work for the government. And lots of people are creating a society that throws away food and they’re not working for the government. It’s a matter of greed and sloth. Not politics.
I’m not sure starvation in America is an issue. In fact, except for maybe anorexic people, does anyone in America starve? I could probably think of a whole lot more important problems.
In addition, complaining about starvation in the US is an insult to those countries that do have real food issues.
LOL please tell me the last person in the US that starved to death?
We have a gazillion people dying from coronary issues, diabetes, etc. Not so much actually starving.
Even past simple starving, most of the world would very happily relocate to the US. Middle-class America is probably the world’s 1%, while even poorer Americans are probably the world’s top 10%.
I barf several time a month reading about neglect from. FENATAL PARENTS.
BUT ABSOLUTELY NO ONE NEED STARVE IN AMERICA
Really, dude?
No one in America has any inkling about that.
Congrats to Bobby on getting his payday and Royals fans have a new face of the franchise, that’s how it should be done!
Too bad it doesn’t run in line with the Royals history of only being good once every 30 years.
But congrats Royals fans
Great job Royals. At an AAV south of $27M per year for this amazing talent, this should be a bargain come 2027 or 2028. This is how you keep your cornerstone players around. What a nice finishing touch on a very strong off-season for J.P. Picollo and the rest of the Royals brass. Now let’s go out and stay healthy and get better and win games. The AL Central is up for grabs. Why not KC?
Everyone still hating on the Tatis 14/340 deal or no?
Did his taking performance enhancing substances go away?
Yep. Put up 5.5 WAR and won a Platinum glove award all the whole not testing positive for anything. Did the time for the crime so move on and don’t act like he isn’t the only guy in MLb history – the majority of which never served a suspension.
You are the one that brought him up and his contract. No I wouldn’t trust anyone that has been caught using to have that big of a contract.
Yes, I did in the discussion of Witt’s contract contract terms. You asked a question as your method of response so I answered it. If you had merely stated your position in a statement we wouldn’t be here right now. Don’t ask a question if you don’t want it answered. Just express your thought.
Yes. It did. He served his time and it’s over.
This past season he had a 5.5 WAR. All the projections have him doing better this season.
I am. After that ringworm and kicking him from SS he would have taken much less.
Every other team would take him in a trade right now. Including yours so let it go.
I don’t get it. If one wants to take a hard stance on the stupid injury while riding a motor bike, or the taking PEDs, I am fine with that.
But he is a terrific player.
This is essentially a seven year deal. That’s it. Three years of FA control purchased. No chance BWJ doesn’t opt out ASAP.
Gran
The chances are definitely greater than 0
Why do you think it’s so common for players to walk away from 30 million guaranteed a year?
Baez didn’t walk away.
31 guaranteed
If he continues the pace he’s on he’ll be opting out at that first opportunity, and if KC never improves he’ll bring home a whole new team in a trade before then.
Yeah, I’d say he’d likely opt out after 7 years at age 30 in 2030, with only the remaining 4yrs $140MM. Provided he has a good season in 2029, anyway.
First indication the Royals get of that, they trade him and hopefully rake in a basket of prospects like when they traded Greinke.
Why? If they were willing to pay him $35MM/yr for 4 years and Witt thought he was better off opting out, wouldn’t the Royals be willing to stretch to 5-6 years? It’s not like Witt is likely to get more than 7 years at age 30.
Wow, just why? 5-6 maybe even 7 years I understand but 11 years… too much. Good for him getting a payday, but 11? Will be 33 when his contract is finished. Especially with a trainwreck of a team that needs pitching desperately. Good luck, and I hope he doesn’t become a Wander Franco.
Lol, do you see what people are signing for? How else would the royals kept him around? If he continues to do well he would get a ton more in FA.
Only 7 years likely. 3 more years than they would have had. Really 4 or 5 because they would have needed to trade him. Lottery odds unlikely he starts sleeping with 14 year olds.
Now THIS is the type of moves I like seeing from the royals. Congratulations Royal fans.
Looks like 7 year deal that buys out 2 free agent years? If he’s a stud he’ll be opting out after 7th year lol
3
It’s part of the game – give some to get some Stlhomers – to get that 3 year extension ie opt out year 7 the Royals had to give him the security if he gets injured or has a down year or two .
Amazing that I could look at a number like that and still think it’s a bit of a bargain. Phenomenal day, you have to build around something and he’s shown he can be that foundation and then some.
Wonder if the Royals will defer 95% of it until 2035?
At its core it buys out his arbitration years and he gives them only two guaranteed years of his free agency, followed by 4 player option years and 3 club option years that he can at various points opt out of.
This isn’t as long of an extension as it sounds, if it goes well enough for it to be a bargain on the back end- because he will opt out.
We don’t know the salary breakdown yet, but it sounds like it’s really a six year extension, probably worth in the neighborhood of 6 years (‘24-‘29) and likely around $63M guaranteed across those years. $5M signing bonus, $1M, $5M, $10M, $12.5M, $17.5M, $20.7M followed by the options.
I ran out of time to do the proper break down and make the math math but I stand by my points.
I thought he had 4 years control. Opt out after 7 so they bought 3 free agent years. That’s how I read it.
This is a brilliant contract by bobby witt sr. It shows bobby jr’s committment to the organization who drafted him but also the ability to leave if the organization continues to show they can’t compete in the future.
KC dropping some cash. I like this move for them.
Speaking of dropping some cash, about 3 months or so ago there was a story here saying that Witt and KC were only kind of talking about possibly kind of talking about possibly kinda talking about an extension. What happened between then and now? KC goes on a spending spree acquiring SPs, relievers and position players from around the league. Maybe 3 months ago Octagon told KC if they wanted some kind of long term security with their client, show us you have some sincere desire in wanting to compete and compete now!
This excites me!
Coupled with yer name… TMI!
Waiting for all the comments about the Royals trying to buy a ring and lamenting that their greed is ruining the game. Oh wait. That’s right, never mind. People only get upset about big contracts if the Dodgers give them out. Congrats to all you Royals fans, Your front office is spending money on trying to win. Which is the end goal of all this! Hooray for trying to win!
enrico pallazzo, the angry, pathetic, bitter, insignificant poster lashes out again… Enjoy unhappiness, you pathetic insignificant loser.
Wow, pot calling the kettle black there Alvo. Chill tf out bruh
Wrong. I’m not the one telling people to “get cancer and die alone”, in the words of enrico palazzo.
@#Enrico Pallazzo
Royals just destroyed baseball! I’ll never watch, again!
Simple minds make simple arguments.
Maybe it’s because people like you try to make everything about the Dodgers.
As a Royals fan, I never thought I’d see they day they spent like this. Feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
Hey! You guys get to carry the Royals “are destroying baseball” baton for a day. Congrats!
They carried $141MM in payroll in 2017. They have spent before, they just did it in their big window and in a burst before rebuilding.
I gotta admit, I feel good for you guys. Not just Witt, but you also signed two pretty decent SPs.
Congrats.
Wow!! Like ligit ‘wow’. The Royals did this?! The Royals??!!!?!
Amazing! Great for baseball, KC fans, and Witt. Very cool.
Love it!
Would you guys rather have Bobby, Corbin, or Julio for the next decade or so?
Julio: he’s the most marketable of the bunch and commands the DR market as well.
Corbin, Julio and then Bobby. Wouldn’t complain about any of them though.
Corbin. He has the best contract. Witt is done in 7 years.
Thanks for your insight. Do you have any stock picks?
He’s going to regret signing a deal with such an embarrassment of a franchise
@Cute Pomeranian
He got a bag of cash. He’s set for life. If they win anything, it’s icing on top. If he wants to be elected to the HOF, he can focus on building that case for himself because that’s ultimately all he can really control. Given the current MLB playoffs, it’s so random as to who’s going to win it and not. Two WC teams were playing in the WS last year. None of the 100+ teams made it past the first round.
More full season rings than Dodgers this century.
That “embarrassment of a franchise” has been in 2 World Series in the last 10 years and nearly won back to back championships. Yes, they won 56 games last year, but they will be MUCH better this year. Nice off-season for them and the younger players will continue to improve, just like they did in 2011-2013. This is huge for the Royals and KC in particular. Locking up the hometown hero long-term to the biggest contract in franchise history is a big win! Hope he stays healthy!
Most players care more about $. No regrets.
So nice to see a small market team spend on their young stars.
Congrats Royals fans.
Since the Royals are in a spending mode, hear me out … Eric Hosmer’s contract 🙂
I think the Hosmer deal was universally-panned as soon as the ink dried. Hosmer was also never a good defensive player. Witt’s defense improved drastically last season to be one of the best at SS so the athleticism is there. He’s also yet to reach his peak years. Sure, Witt can decline as he ages and not opt-out of the deal but the Royals will have had his best years out of him. And each of those years should be much more productive than Hosmer’s best season.
I have no doubt this will be good contract. I was just hoping to have the Royals take Hosmer’s contract
Padres own that contract. They paid all but minimum wage for Hosmer to play elsewhere.
Pads could sell the 2 years remaining… but I’m not keen to attaching an Iriarte or Snelling with it. That is what it would take, per se. I appreciate the humor of it all here though! =)
I thought it was only 1 year left. I hope so for my friend Gwynning. Still will have Machado though. Darvish is iffy. Hope Crone rebounds. I like the Musgrove deal though. Great odds of working out.
Musgrove and Tatis are 2 of the biggest values in MLB, no bones about it. Hos is done after ’25, but we all wish it was this year. Machado is paid appropriately; he might be a MVP soon and will don the SD cap into the Hall. Darvish is a pimp, but the extension may not age well. Did lower his AAV though! =)
Darvish at 16/21/15/15 based on what back of rotation arms got this year in FA makes me not have a problem with the Darvish deal. Sure, he could decline as he ages but the guy takes care of himself and is expected to rebound in 2024.
With the going rates as a guide, I’m just not as down on this as I was originally – yes, accepting the lower AAV was the goal but, having him at about 16 mil manning the 5 spot in 2 years with Lesko and Snelling and Mazur, Musgrove and somebody (Thorpe?) – not too had of a thought.
Agreed 100% LTC
I think the Hosmer deal was universally-panned as soon as the ink dried.
========================
I’ve been following sports for 50+ years, and this was one of the very, very few cases where absolutely EVERYONE hated the contract. Besides the Kazmir trade, it is tough to think of many others.
Exciting for Royals fans. Enormous risk for the franchise. Performance zapping injury or a dramatic shift in production could eff the franchise for a decade.
Possible but odds say he likely remains good and opts out.
I would’ve held out for 11/$289
I would have caved and signed at 288.
Pretty damn nice centerpiece
Have to admire Royals’ ownership willingness to invest in the on the field product. Congratulations Royals fans. Every team needs a face of the franchise .
Great signing. Saw a game at Yankee stadium last year, he was the best player on the field.
If he doesn’t exercise any of his opt-outs isn’t it like 100% the Royals decline the 3-year club option? Why even put it in? Or is it one of those options where the Royals have to exercise it in advance and if they do it voids the opt-outs?
Probably to inflate the headlines. It’s will be good price in 10 years if he is just say an average player by then to have him retire a Royal.
You a fortune teller to know what the Royals do in a decade?
Don’t have to be a fortune teller to know that if he opts into 4/$124m it means he’s not going to be worth 3/$89m jerkface.
I guess the Royals and Witt don’t agree with you or they wouldn’t have put it in there. Jerk face? Are you 8? Are you allowed to be on social media?
How do they not agree with me when the options haven’t been exercised or not yet? We’re gonna have to wait 11 years before we’ll know if I am in fact correct or not. I can set a reddit reminder if you like.
Congratulations Royals fans!
Lot of 7’s… guess that has to do with his jersey #
Whoa…
Great move. I didn’t think the Royals would actually shell out the money needed to keep Witt. Witt has a chance to be the best Royals player since George Brett (Yes, even better than Salvy). Unfortunately right now there’s not much to build around him. He’s in a Trout-Angels situation when Trout signed his extension
Wow this seems early. A massive bet on a guy they already had control of for several seasons, who only has had one great year. Granted he looks like the real deal, the contract should work out well if he plays like last year (or his upside is even higher). But check the White Sox for long term extensions that didn’t work out. They’re paying Yoan Moncada 24M this year, after a 5 WAR season in 2019. He was the #1 overall prospect in MLB at one time. Things don’t always work out like they project at the time. Hope it works out and he stays healthy, Witt seems like a hell of a player.
That seems like a decent comp (although I don’t know how they compare defensively). Maybe that was the reason for waiting until the end of the second year.
It’s always nice when you can spot an albatross flying in ahead of time instead of after it’s already landed.
He’s young and isn’t a pitcher. So the 11 years isn’t that hard to swallow.
Oh no the Royals are ruining baseball. Where are the whiners now?
It’s a great deal for both sides. He has already has 5.3 war. So he needs what 30 war for this to be break even for KC.
Good for the Royals. He’s a heck of a player. I think it’s a good deal for both sides. Love when mid or small market teams lock up homegrown players.
As a Pirates fan this creates a template for a potential Cruz extension if he has a good season. You’d subtract 3 years because Cruz would be three years older after the 2024 season.
So would be something like 8 years – 210 million with some options. Hopefully Cruz earns a contract like that this season.
Pirates will extend 2 players for 210m. They are smart with their limited funds.
Maybe, but if Cruz has the year most of us expect: plays an adequate Shortstop, has a 825+ OPS, 25+ homeruns, 30+ stolen bases, etc. I think locking him up for $26ish million per year would be the smart move.
Even if they have to trade Reynolds to free up the money, I’d rather have Cruz long-term (assuming he performs as I expect this year). Reynolds is a solid player, fringe All-Star in his good seasons, but Cruz has the potential to be an MVP candidate. I guess we’ll see how it shakes out.
If they like him they will attempt to extend him in the next month or so. After his injury he should be thinking to get paid now. Has same awful agent firm as Reynolds. Hopefully agent is just as bad and contract gets done for a discount. If that fails and he goes off and it takes 200 300 million I think they just move on to someone else. They can only give out so many extensions. It needs to be at a discount. They don’t do player opt outs.
D for KC. They should have extended him. Good odds of this working out. It’s a passing grade and a win. But they paid full price. No discount. And he is either gone after 7 years or you wish he was. This is about as bad of a contract that you could do and still get a passing grade.
A for Witt. He gets almost 300 million guaranteed. He can’t lose. If he is still great at 30 he will opt out and get at least another 300 million deal. Likely more.
Love seeing this! A smaller market team locking up one of their legit star players, instead of trading him as he enters his arb years.
Great deal for both KC and Witt.
classic. With 7 jersey number and the 7,777,777 signing bonus (seven sevens)
Reminds me of Sidney Crosby’s 8.7 millions dollars a year
Negotiating tactic. I bet they didn’t take less $ to get to that number.
Waste of talent on a garbage team. He obviously doesn’t care it’s all about money.
Good for BB. I think the number is about right, and their commitment to Witt “should” help build the team and attract fans.
When does start healing the sick and walk on water ?
Great for him, great for baseball, and great for a small market team.
Of course it would be cool if he turns out to be a consistently great player, but I just hope it turns out better for the Royals that the Wander Franco contract for the Rays (so sorry, Rays fans).
Most mega contract players avoid getting arrested for serious crimes so he should be fine.
Why do so many people say this similar comment?
I’m sure he will be fine, but many people say this similar comment because they don’t like it all when players, but not just players do it, as it is a very bad thing to do and will lead to an automatic entry to where the Devil himself is.
Nice forward-looking deal; now do something for today & show the kid you really believe by trying to sign Chapman on a 1-year deal
The only Chapman you can get on a one year deal is already signed. The 3b likely signs multiple years. I wouldn’t want to bet on myself becoming better if I was him. 1 year deal would be desperation last resort.
Great for Witt. Ridiculous for the royals. Way overpaid for one guy on a team that isn’t going anyway anytime sooon
Gotta enhance a brand and establish a franchise face somehow. Hopefully, it’s a sign for good things to come for Royals fans. You can only make excuses for so long while MLB continues to rake in more year-ober-year revenues in spite of the recent RSN bankruptcies.
Way overpaid for one guy
============================
Just for fun, explain why it was an overpayment.
Royals are only getting 2 years extension past his arb years at $65M as he can opt out every year starting in ’30. He also got pretty much MAX guaranteed arb year contracts and an $8M bonus. Witt has all the power in this contract and the AAV for those optional years are almost $35M per which is already at MVP levels.
Good point. If only the royals had the money and wherewithal to have better players in addition to Witt. They won’t be winning a World Series anytime soon
Royals are only getting 2 years extension past his arb years at $65M as he can opt out every year starting in ’30.
===================================
Is it not 3 years, starting after ’30? If it costs $9M/WAR now for a FA, at 5% inflation, it will cost $11M for his FA years. And I’d expect to see a 5 WAR player.
Unfortunately, with the number of opt-outs, it is difficult to properly value the contract, but I’d make a decent-sized wager that he is good enough to opt out as soon as possible.
Not a good sign for the orioles signing rutchman and Henderson to extensions. At least new ownership gives us a chance.
Baltimore might be better negotiators. Players might accept less. Hard to say.
If franco is found guilty in the DR can the rays void any of that contract? How do teams not have protections with contracts this lucrative?
If he’s unable to obtain a visa for U.S. re-entry, they probably can void. They do have contract language for such matters but the MLBPA will find ways to poke holes in it. If he can’t play, they probably settle on an amount to prevent a lawsuit from getting drawn out for PR reasons.
His visa has been revoked, and per a reputable immigration attorney- “he isn’t getting one from the State Department anytime soon.” Read into it what you may.
Gonna be honest. I thought the Royals’ earlier deals this offseason were a lot more fluff than interesting, despite a respectable sum all together. But now… are they actually trying to brew something up in KC? Division is as open as you could ask for the next few years. If this team rallies around this guy and gets more pieces next offseason, I could see them turning some heads in the ALC sooner than later.
On another note, this is going to make it harder for small market clubs to pretend they can’t sign big contracts haha. And hopefully, the fans will remember this the next time they try holding water for billionaire owners.
I never understood that either. The players are greedy, demanding Karen’s but the owners raking it in is just fine. Another good example of this is Carlos Correa being signed by the Twins. You make a good point.
Meanwhile Acuna is stuck eating Raman and hot dogs due to that joke of a contract he signed with the Braves.
Good hot dogs aren’t cheap anymore. He may need to downgrade to canned meats.
Braves regularly fleece their players somehow. Albies contract was criminal
Maybe the A’s should realize that making moves like this helps their case towards their own government funding.
Yes they got it anyways but they asked for $500mm and got 380, not to mention the hurdles (lawsuit, potential ballot measures) they still have to face.
Gelof for 8/90, maybe 7/80 would be that kind of move. Biggest contract in franchise history (somehow), proves that they will extend homegrown talent at market rate.
Enjoy this taste, Royals fans. You are the envy of every A’s fan right now.
@letsgooakland123 The wealthy owners of the A’s getting ANY government funding is ipso facto bribery and public corruption.
They have no case for government funding. They can only bribe state and local officials to ‘subsidize’ the already significant profits they’ll be making, significant in no small part because of the federal government having been bribed for many decades to create and maintain an antitrust exemption for major league baseball.
Any sane country would outlaw all quid pro quo public corruption and of course would outlaw all significant private money in political campaigns—which is how we suffer from the current climate and crisis of the total political corruption of every level of the political class.
Great day to be a Stros fan
If you were wondering if TV or anything else was impacting revenue for MLB teams this sets that thought aside. Small market team that is bottom 5 in revenue just signed a $288 million contract.
Omg the Royals are ruining the game! I’m never watching again!
Franchise guy, and that’s what the Royals are famous for, great job !
Wow. In a 4 year span he’s gonna get a 28mil dollar raise. Not bad.
Congrats to the Royals and their fans on this extension.
It’s like an alternate universe with the Royals outspending the Red Sox- and for better quality players. Extending Witt as the cornerstone of your franchise is a no-brainer… signing Lucas Giolito from the scrap heap is insane, and horribly depressing.
I like it. It is a risk obviously but he will be 35 when the deal ends. The last years there will be some decline but you are getting a lot of prime years and the last ones he still could be about an average player when he ages decently.
Much better like this than signing a guy through age 41 which happens to a lot of Superstars who sign a Deal in their late 20s.
Yes, he could get injured or decline early but that is the risk a team like the royals have to take with a talent of that caliber, such a guy maybe comes around once every 15 years for the royals and they are not going to sign such a hitter in free agency.
Prior to this deal, Witt would be a FA after 2027.
KC’s $148.8m guarantee through 2030 means they’re paying $148.8m, total, for the ‘right’ to pay (and commit to) Witt $100m for his 2028, 2029, and 2030 seasons, his age 28, 29, and 30 seasons—also his first 3 FA seasons.
Strictly in money, that’s $33.33m for each of those 3 years, but there’s a huge benefit in that it’s almost unprecedented to get a star (presuming) close to his prime age on what is effectively a 3 year deal.
Even assuming averaged FA prices don’t move much past $9m per 1 WAR, you’d need 11 WAR to break even on that $100m guarantee. Anything more than that is gravy—so if Witt puts up 5 WAR in each of his 28-30 seasons, this is a 4 WAR surplus over 3 years. Not a great prize given the downside. In these terms it’s a $36m surplus in return for the $100m guarantee and overall $148.8m commitment.
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BUT—the cost for this small upside is significant. If Witt is bad, but not out long-term with injuries covered by insurance, the Royals will pay $140m for his 2031-2034 seasons.
That doesn’t mean the Royals won’t get any value for that $140m, but they might be getting something like 6 WAR from a swiftly declining 31, 32, 33, 34 year old Witt. There’s significant risk here.
Most ppl on here just don’t know how to do math and be analytical about contracts and quickly assumed it was a great signing by KC which is wasnt. It’s full of risk and assumptions that he will be MVP quality for the next decade. They also only truly extended him by 2 years for $65M and also guaranteed him max arb contracts and a $7M bonus. Yeesh…
Is it not three years?
I like that the Royals got their guy but it’s iffy when you spend that much. We saw small market teams sign big deals then trade off their guys later on. Let’s see if he actually stays as a Royal.
Good for the Royals who used to be the closest MLB team distance wise for me now it’s the Rockies lol. When the Royals were good I never seen so many people wearing Royals baseball hats in my entire life. Hopefully this is the start of something good for KC.
Defer the contract and let the royals sign Montgomery.
I like the move. It’s fantastic. That being said, this team has not had a winning record since 2015, yet they have maybe one top 100 prospect. That’s terrible. I;d love to see Witt stay in KC his whole career, but that won’t happen if they aren’t competitive. They won’t be competitive so long as their drafting and player development is this poor.. I like their signings this offseason, but these are complementary pieces. The core is not good. Even if Witt takes then next step and is a legit MVP candidate, this is a .500 team..
They do not have a high rated top 100 prospects. They have one that’s at the back end of 100
Man, guy’s getting the Ohtani treatment. Only $2M in 2024? I feel bad for these underpaid players. How they gonna pay rent and food in our high inflation economy?
Witt needs an agent who doesnt play mlb the show. You can get more than 35 mil in a year, that is not the cap for yearly pay in the actual MLB like it is in that game good sir.
An even more terrible deal for KC when you consider he can opt out every year starting in 2030. So KC essentially just bought 2 extra years of control for $65M…awful.
Per the article:
“as he’ll be able to test free agency after the 2030,”
He has four years left, taking him thru 2027. 2028-2030 is an additional three years.
By 2028, the Royal’s payroll will need to be about a 140 million just to keep pace.. Julio rodriguez must feel like he’s getting underpaid now
I absolutely love this for Royals fan – this kid is going to be a star and you’ll have him for a long while at reasonable prices as the market continues to escalate. This has been an amazing offseason for the team as a whole, really. I hope they make some noise this year. Royals and Tigers, both – make the AL Central really interesting!