The Kansas City Royals are bucking their trend of not spending big by giving young star Bobby Witt Jr. the largest contract in franchise history.
The team announced a contract extension with the 23-year-old shortstop on Monday. Confirmed by Jon Heyman of the Post. The contract is worth $288.7 million over 11 years, with a three-year club option, making the contract worth $377.7 million over 14 years.
Witt Jr., who had four years left at the team’s helm before his new contract, can opt out after the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th seasons. According to ESPN.
His average annual salary is $26.24 million, the sixth highest among shortstops.
Witt Jr. reacted to the news on Xposted a handshake emoji, tagged the Royals account in a post that included a GIF of Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Jordan Belfort in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and said, “I’m not quitting.” .
After being hailed as one of baseball’s top prospects, Witt Jr. quickly established himself as a cornerstone of an MLB organization in just two seasons.
He finished 7th in the AL MVP voting in 2023, his second season, with a batting average of .276/.319/.495, 30 home runs, 96 RBIs, a league-leading 11 triples, 49 stolen bases, and 97 RBIs. did.
According to FanGraphs, Witt Jr. finished last season with the third-best WAR among MLB shortstops (5.7), behind Corey Seager (6.1) and Francisco Lindor (6.0).
Before signing Witt Jr., the Royals had just three players reach eight-figure deals in 2024 — catcher Sal Perez ($20 million), former Mets pitcher, according to Spotrac. Michael Wacha ($16 million) and Seth Lugo ($15). a million).
The Royals, seeking tax funding to build a new stadium, signed Wacha (two years, $32 million) and Lugo (three years, $45 million) in December.
Since winning the World Series in 2015, the Royals have gone eight consecutive seasons without a winning record and have surpassed 100 losses three times, including in 2023, when they finished with the second-worst record in MLB at 56-106. There is.
