ESPN REPORT: Another Mega Star Commits To North Carolina Tar Heels football
According to sources who spoke to ESPN, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and the Kansas City Royals have reached an agreement on an 11-year, $288.8 million deal extension. This incredible guarantee will keep the young star in Kansas City as the franchise works to construct a new stadium and a roster around him.
Entering his third major league season, Witt, 23, was among baseball’s greatest players last season, which led the Royals to lavishly offer him a deal that included superstar money and freedom. According to sources, Witt will have the option to opt out of the deal after the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth years. In addition, there is a club option that may be added to the contract after the eleventh season for an additional three years and $89 million, for a total ceiling of $377 million over 14 years.
Witt is guaranteed more under the terms of the deal than all but fifteen players in baseball history, and it kickstarts a historic week for Kansas City sports that will culminate with the Chiefs taking on San Francisco in the Super Bowl. It’s a testament to the team’s faith in Witt, who played Gold Glove-caliber defense last season and hit.276/.319/.495 with 30 home runs and 49 stolen bases. A week before the players of the Royals report to spring training, the team signed him. This completes a busy winter in which the Royals aggressively pursued free agents, partly to persuade Witt that owner John Sherman genuinely wanted to revive the franchise less than ten years after its second World Series victory.
Bobby Witt Jr., a Gold Glove level defensive back last season, hit.276/.319/.495 with 30 home runs and 49 stolen bases. Getty Images/Petersen
The Royals made locking up Witt their top priority during the offseason, and just two months before a Jackson County, Missouri, ballot referendum, they managed to reach an agreement to extend a three-eighths-of-a-cent tax that would help finance the construction of a new stadium for the Royals in downtown Kansas City as well as renovations to Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs.
Witt, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound shortstop whose father pitched in the major leagues for 16 years, has long captivated observers with his blend of strength, speed, baseball acumen, and moral integrity. After giving him a thorough evaluation, Kansas City chose the Colleyville, Texas, native with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft. The most gifted player to join the team in decades was acquired by Sherman when he purchased the Royals from veteran owner David Glass two months later.
Witt soared to Triple-A in his first full season of 2021 and won every minor league player award. Distinguished guests of the Royals, including George Brett, the organization’s lone Hall of Famer, Quinton Lucas, the mayor of the city, and the newly crowned NCAA champion Kansas men’s basketball team, flocked to Witt’s big league debut on Opening Day in 2022.
Witt lived up to the hype as a rookie, with 20 home runs, 30 stolen bases, the fastest speed in baseball, and a glove that has room to improve. After playing on the US World Baseball Classic squad in the spring, Witt was a better version of himself the following season. With 11 triples, he led the major leagues. He also improved defensively, reduced his strikeout percentage to 17.4%, increased his home runs and stolen bases by 50% and even more, respectively. The only players with 30 or more home runs and lower strikeout percentages were Ronald Acuña Jr., Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, and Ozzie Albies, the first three of whom placed first or second in the MVP voting the previous season.
There has never been a greater opportunity to give notice than this winter. Witt would have been just three years away from free agency and the attraction of teams much richer than the Royals if he had entered arbitration following the 2024 campaign. In the event that a deal fell through, the Royals might have started to consider trading Witt, particularly if it became evident they were not willing to compete in the $250 million+ market and dwarf their previous record deal, a four-year, $82 million extension for All-Star catcher Salvador Perez.
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Sherman was. And by doing this, he aims to not only bring the Royals back on track following a miserable 56-106 loss in 2023, but also persuade supporters to support allocating $1 billion for the construction of a stadium that will house an estimated $2 billion in revenue and act as the hub of a downtown entertainment zone. Kauffman Stadium, the current home of the Royals, was constructed in 1973 and refurbished in 2009.
The Royals and Bobby Witt Sr., who represents his son through Octagon, have been in talks for months. After Fernando Tatis Jr.’s 14-year, $340 million contract, Witt’s $288 million guarantee is the second largest for a player before arbitration. Tatis’ deal, which was previously thought to be in a class of its own, is worth about $2 million less annually than Witt’s.
Witt has the option to become a free agent or renegotiate the contract after the 2030, 2031, 2032, and 2033 seasons, but he plans to stay with the Royals for much longer than the first seven years, which will pay him $148 million. In addition, the contract contains a $7,777,777 signing bonus and a no-trade clause, making it ideal for the guy whose No. 7 jersey is worn everywhere in Kansas City.
Both parties have invested trust in the promise. Low-revenue teams like Kansas City view big-money, long-term contracts for players like Witt as essential to retaining players of his ability. However, the danger associated with them makes teams reluctant to assign them. Nine-figure contracts had only been awarded to six players who had played in the top leagues for two or less years prior. The following players—Wander Franco (11 years, $182 million), Mike Trout (six years, $144.5 million), Corbin Carroll (eight years, $111 million), Fernando Tatis Jr. (14 years, $340 million), Julio Rodriguez (12 years, $209 million), and Acuña (eight years, $100 million)—have all been All-Stars.
While the Royals finished 121-203 in Witt’s first two seasons, he is handing his prime years to a team that has had trouble surrounding him with talented players. Right-handers Seth Lugo (three years, $45 million) and Michael Wacha (two years, $32 million), who signed as free agents, have stabilized a rotation that might see a breakout performance from Cole Ragans (left, Kansas City acquired in June for reliever Aroldis Chapman). First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, who missed the majority of 2023 due to shoulder surgery, is expected to return, giving Witt more lineup protection.
Witt is ranked among the top 10 players in baseball by several teams’ internal projection systems, and they predict MVP-caliber seasons for him in the future. Witt showed glimpses of brilliance during his rookie season. When supporters urged him to stay with the Royals, he stated that he didn’t want to look too far ahead but that “I want to be here for a long time.”
He will be now.
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MLB spring training 2024: Teams and players we’re excited to see
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On his first batting practice with the Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani doesn’t waste any time getting in the cage. (0:22)
ESPN
14 February 2024 at 7:00 AM ET
Spring is back in the air after an intense baseball winter.
After spending $1.2 billion in the offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, the top two free agents. After missing the playoffs the previous season, the New York Yankees made a trade for slugger Juan Soto. The Baltimore Orioles, who were in the process of winning 101 games in the American League, traded for Corbin Burnes, an ace.
We’ll soon know how those moves, along with many others, translate to the diamond as pitchers and catchers report. In anticipation of the 2024 season, we’ve asked ESPN MLB analysts to start spring training with the players and plotlines they’re most excited about.
Now that spring training is underway, what is the one thing you are most looking forward to?
Buster Olney: The strain that will accumulate during the summer for a few teams that have games they absolutely must win. The Dodgers’ season will be viewed as a failure if they don’t win the World Series. The Atlanta Braves are in the midst of their championship window, with only a few games remaining before free agents Max Fried and Charlie Morton sign elsewhere. The Philadelphia Phillies’ disappointment at not winning the World Series last autumn will motivate them. During the postseason, the Yankees’ organization must make significant progress. Alex Bregman’s time with the Houston Astros appears to be coming to an end this season. The Texas Rangers will have to wait until Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom return in the middle of the season before trying to win back-to-back games. At that point, we’ll wonder what kind of wear and tear deGrom and Scherzer will sustain at this point in their careers. There are teams that aim to win the World Series every year, but many teams need to win the championship this year.
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Jeff Passan: The Braves and Dodgers’ ongoing battle for supremacy in the National League. Respect to the Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are now the NL East leaders and last year’s World Series victors, the Braves and Dodgers are baseball’s two most talented clubs—both loaded with talents and eager to win another pennant. Home-field advantage would be secured by recording the most victories during the regular season. Although the MLB postseason is too unpredictable to guarantee that the Braves and Dodgers will still be in the field when the NL Championship Series arrives, every little edge matters. These are two elite teams, and their two regular season meetings (three games at Dodger Stadium from May 3–5, and four games at Truist Park from September 13–16) may serve as a prelude to an unforgettable October series.
Alden Gonzalez: I’m not very thrilled, but I’m interested to watch how the craze surrounding Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani develops. Every morning, just after sunrise, a group of about twelve photographers and camera operators congregate outside the Dodgers’ stadium in hopes of catching a glimpse of Ohtani pulling into the players’ parking lot. On Friday, over seventy members of the media were present at his first interview. Subsequently, when asked which member of his club could act as a spokesperson for Japanese media, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts suggested Jason Heyward, presumably in jest. The following morning, Heyward gave two speeches in front of his locker, drawing attention from over ten reporters each time. Taking it all in stride, Heyward added, “Shohei’s the guy to talk about Shohei.” The Dodgers have done a great job managing all of this attention, but it’s still early.
Jesse Rogers: Perhaps I’m overly enthusiastic, but I’m completely engrossed in seeing how many bunnies agent Scott Boras can extract from his baseball cap. Key free agents are four of his. At this late hour, can he find four teams willing to match his asking price? Three? That would be quite the Houdini performance, but don’t rule out the potential that everything works out for him and his clients. Remember that Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, and Jordan Montgomery will all be richer wherever and whenever they sign, but a shorter-term contract with opt-outs, which means they will have to prove themselves to potential suitors once more, is a welcome perk.
