https://www.mlb.com/news/royals-sign-bobby-witt-jr-to-extension

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KANSAS CITY The Royals have had a big offseason, but what came Monday was the biggest move of the winter, the decade and maybe in franchise history.
Their superstar is here to stay.
The Royals came to an agreement with Bobby Witt Jr. on a mega-extension on Monday, inking their 23-year-old shortstop to a deal that starts this season and could at least run through the 2034 season an 11-year guarantee with a team option that could carry it three more years, through 2037 as a 14-year deal. It's not only the largest contract in team history, but the first Royals contract spanning 10-plus seasons.

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I know I'm the only KC Fan here, but this is pretty big news for the Royals. They never do stuff like this. They infamously passed on Carlos Beltran over $1M a while back.

Had tickets to the Sept 29th game against the Yankees, but got a sick and had to miss the game. Wife took my son and sister instead and they had a great time...I was even more sick that Witt hit the 30th HR (first 30hr/30sb player in Royals history) and the Royals scored 9 runs in the 1st against the Yankees.

He's the real deal. Has been since he was like 6 years old. I think the Royals will get their money's worth. Hopefully they can surround him with some playoff caliber talent in the coming years.

Jr. Some of us enjoyed Sr. scaring the bejezus out of batters with somewhat unpredictable but hard fastballs…

greg.w.h said:

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Jr. Some of us enjoyed Sr. scaring the bejezus out of batters with somewhat unpredictable but hard fastballs…

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I just so happened to be visiting a friend in LA and saw Sr. homerun, the first by an AL pitcher in interleague play.

I read that Sr is Jr's agent as well.

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could at least run through the 2034 season an 11-year guarantee with a team option that could carry it three more years, through 2037 as a 14-year deal. It's not only the largest contract in team history, but the first Royals contract spanning 10-plus seasons.

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This part is oddly-worded... "Could at least".

Witt has opt-outs every year after 2030, so when it comes to team control, its effectively a 7-year deal.

Proposition Joe said:

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could at least run through the 2034 season an 11-year guarantee with a team option that could carry it three more years, through 2037 as a 14-year deal. It's not only the largest contract in team history, but the first Royals contract spanning 10-plus seasons.

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This part is oddly-worded... "Could at least".

Witt has opt-outs every year after 2030, so when it comes to team control, its effectively a 7-year deal.

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Basically, they settled all arbitration seasons and signed him to a 3/100 extension in new years. 3/107.7 if you count the signging bonus. Those are age 28-30 and he's fresh off a 5.7 WAR season. I think that's a great deal for both sides. Bobby opts out and then get can sign another 8/200 M deal.

Stadium deal coming up for a vote in April.

Owner John Sherman wants the new stadium. The Witt deal, and other recent player signings, are a signal that the team is trying to win and keep winning so voters will vote Yes. At least that's the running theory. Honestly, we all want the team to be consistently better like the 70's and 80's. IMO Dayton Moore got lucky, caught lighting in a bottle in 2015/2016 and then proceeded to run the team into the ground instead of starting a rebuild with the pieces he could have traded in 2017 (Hosmer, Moose, Cane, etc.).

I'm honestly not that excited about downtown baseball. Getting in and out will suck compared to the current set up. Right now, I can leave my house which is 20-miles away and get to my seats in <40-minutes on any random weeknight. With a downtown stadium, that's going to be a least 1-hour. I'm not bar guy so I won't be going early to drink/eat downtown before the game. Yes, selfish

Also, these deals have always worked out to be terrible financial moves by cities. The 'revenue' from the new taxes, parking, tourism, whatever, never adds up and the tax payers end up short ended.