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Bobby Witt Jr.

Bobby Witt Jr. Suffers Forearm Contusion, Avoids Any Fractures After HBP

By Anthony Franco | March 12, 2025 at 7:19pm CDT

The Royals appear to have avoided the worst on Bobby Witt Jr. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that the superstar shortstop avoided any fractures after being hit by a pitch in the left forearm/wrist area this afternoon. Kansas City subsequently announced that Witt sustained a forearm contusion and said he’d be reevaluated tomorrow.

Manager Matt Quatraro said immediately after the game that Witt was headed for x-rays (relayed by Anne Rogers of MLB.com). Last year’s AL MVP runner-up left the game after he was struck by a 96 MPH sinker from Andrés Muñoz. Quatraro said Witt initially lost the feeling in his fingers, though the manager added that “it was coming back” postgame. He framed the x-ray as more of a precautionary measure.

The team can breathe a sigh of relief after that initial testing. Lingering soreness could raise the possibility of a season-opening injured list stint, but he’s unlikely to face an extended absence. Maikel Garcia would likely step in at shortstop if Witt misses any time. That’d temporarily leave second and third base to the combination of Michael Massey and Jonathan India.

Witt is coming off one of the best seasons in franchise history. He won the batting title while hitting .332/.389/.588. Witt led the majors with 211 hits, including 45 doubles and 32 home runs. He stole 31 bases while earning Gold Glove and Silver Slugger honors. Witt started 160 games at shortstop and logged nearly 1400 innings. Garcia, who played 22 1/3 innings at the position, picked up the other two starts.

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Kansas City Royals Bobby Witt Jr.

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Bobby Witt Jr. Tops Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool

By Anthony Franco | December 13, 2024 at 11:06pm CDT

Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. received roughly $3.08MM from the pre-arbitration bonus pool, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Pirates righty Paul Skenes ($2.15MM) and Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson ($2MM) round out the top three.

The most recent collective bargaining agreement introduced a $50MM pool that is divided among players who have yet to accrue enough service time to reach arbitration. (Each team commits around $1.67MM to that fund every season.) The goal was to help highly-performing young players get paid earlier in their careers. Players are eligible even if they’ve signed a contract extension, as Witt did before the season. Despite inking a deal approaching $289MM, he’ll pick up a little more than $3MM as a result of his fantastic ’24 campaign.

A player receives $2.5MM for winning MVP or Cy Young. They’re awarded $1.75MM for a runner-up finish, $1.5MM for third place, and $1MM for fourth or fifth place. The Rookie of the Year winner in each league gets $750K, while the runners-up pick up $500K. Players named first-team All-MLB receive $1MM; a second-team All-MLB placement is worth $500K.

Players cannot double-up on those accolades. They’re paid in line with the highest award honors they received. Witt was the MVP runner-up in the American League. Skenes finished third in Cy Young voting. Henderson placed fourth in MVP voting.

After the award money is paid out, the remaining funds are divided between the top 100 eligible players based on a predetermined Wins Above Replacement formula which was mutually approved by MLB and the Players Association. William Contreras, Cole Ragans, Jarren Duran, Jackson Merrill and Luis Gil were the other players to top $1MM this year. The Associated Press lists every player who received some money based on their WAR totals — going down to Sal Frelick at a little over $232K.

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Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool Bobby Witt Jr.

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Aaron Judge Wins AL MVP

By Anthony Franco and Darragh McDonald | November 21, 2024 at 5:31pm CDT

Aaron Judge is the MVP once again. The Baseball Writers Association of America announced this evening that the Yankee captain was the unanimous choice for the American League’s top player this year. Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals was the unanimous runner-up, getting all of the second-place votes. Judge’s teammate Juan Soto finished third in the voting.

Judge was the AL MVP in 2022, his 62-homer campaign. While he came up just shy of that in 2024 with “only” 58 home runs, he roughly kept pace with himself in most categories. His 24.3% strikeout rate was actually a personal best, slightly ahead of the 25.1% clip from his previous MVP campaign. His 18.9% walk rate was a few ticks better than the 15.9% clip from two years ago. His 10 steals were a bit of a drop from his 16 from two years back, but his 144 runs batted in were a gain of 13.

Overall, his offensive contributions led to a ridiculous .322/.458/.701 slash line this year. That translated to a 218 wRC+, indicating he was 118% better than league average this year. That was an improvement over his 206 wRC+ in 2022.

On top of his work at the plate, he also contributed in the field. While he’s primarily been a right fielder in his career, he spent a career-high 903 innings in center in 2024. While he didn’t receive strong marks for his work there, simply being able to play up the middle was valuable to the Yanks, given the demands of the position. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 11.2 wins above replacement on the year, a slight increase over his 11.1 fWAR in 2022.

That all-time performance made it an easy choice for voters. That’s unfortunate for Witt, who played at a level that’d be enough to win MVP in a lot of years. The Royals’ star shortstop led the majors with a .332 average and 211 hits. He slashed .332/.389/.588 with 32 homers and 31 steals while playing excellent defense. FanGraphs credited Witt with more than 10 WAR in his own right. Since Witt finished in the top three in MVP voting within his first three MLB seasons, the Royals receive an extra pick after the first round in next year’s draft.

Soto had arguably the best full season of his career, hitting 41 homers with a .288/.419/.569 slash in what may be his only year as a Yankee. This is his third top five MVP finish. Soto received 21 third-place votes. Gunnar Henderson and José Ramírez, who finished fourth and fifth respectively, were the only others to land in third on some ballots. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Tarik Skubal, Jarren Duran, Yordan Alvarez, Brent Rooker, Emmanuel Clase, Cal Raleigh, Rafael Devers, Anthony Santander, Jose Altuve, Seth Lugo, Corey Seager, Framber Valdez and Detroit reliever Tyler Holton also appeared on at least one ballot.

Full voter breakdown from BBWAA.

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Kansas City Royals New York Yankees Newsstand Aaron Judge Bobby Witt Jr. Juan Soto

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Royals Receive PPI Pick For Witt’s Top-Three MVP Finish

By Anthony Franco | November 11, 2024 at 11:20pm CDT

The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the finalists for the 2024 awards this evening. Bobby Witt Jr. was among the finalists for American League MVP, indicating he finished in the top three in the balloting. As Matt Eddy of Baseball America points out (on X), that’ll earn the Royals an extra pick after the first round of the 2025 draft.

The 2022 collective bargaining agreement introduced the Prospect Promotion Incentive to dissuade teams from keeping their top talents in the minors. A team that carries a top prospect for a full year of service can receive a draft choice if that player finds success early in his career.

A player would earn his team a pick for winning Rookie of the Year or finishing in the top three in Cy Young or MVP voting within his pre-arbitration years (essentially his first three seasons of service). A team can only add one PPI selection per player. In previous seasons, Julio Rodríguez, Gunnar Henderson and Corbin Carroll have earned their teams a PPI choice by winning Rookie of the Year.

Kansas City carried Witt, a consensus top prospect, on the roster for the entire 2022 season. The star shortstop did not earn the Rookie of the Year pick, finishing fourth in the balloting. He instead becomes the first player to earn his team an extra selection through the top three MVP placement in his third season. That’s a more difficult path that’ll presumably happen far less frequently than the Rookie of the Year route. They’ll take it all the same.

In February, the Royals signed Witt to an 11-year extension that guaranteed him a little less than $289MM. That did not take away from Witt’s eligibility for the Prospect Promotion Incentive even though he was no longer slated for a salary around the league minimum. He’s likely to finish as the MVP runner-up behind Aaron Judge after racking up a season worth around nine wins above replacement. Witt won the batting title and led the majors with 211 hits. He finished the year with a .332/.389/.588 slash line with 32 homers and 109 runs batted in while playing plus defense at the infield’s most demanding position. The Royals won 86 games to snap a nine-year postseason drought.

This is the only guaranteed PPI selection to date, but there could be more once award winners are announced next week. The Padres and Orioles would stand to gain an extra pick if Jackson Merrill and Colton Cowser win their respective Rookie of the Year awards. Austin Wells is also eligible but is a longer shot to win AL Rookie of the Year.

The Pirates cannot get an extra pick for Paul Skenes finishing in the top three in Cy Young balloting because Pittsburgh did not call the star righty up until early May. They would not receive a selection if Skenes wins Rookie of the Year for the same reason. Skenes would earn himself a full year of service time in the likely event that he places in the top two in ROY voting, however.

The other Rookie of the Year finalists also do not meet the PPI criteria. Luis Gil was not on two of the preseason Top 100 lists at Baseball America, ESPN or MLB Pipeline — the necessary prospect status to earn a pick. The Brewers carried Jackson Chourio for a full season but signed him to an eight-year extension last December. Eddy reported in September that players who sign an extension before their MLB debuts are not eligible for a PPI selection. Chourio’s extension differs from Witt’s because the latter had already played in MLB before signing.

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Kansas City Royals Bobby Witt Jr.

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Gold Glove Winners Announced

By Mark Polishuk | November 3, 2024 at 8:46pm CDT

Major League Baseball announced the Gold Glove winners tonight, as selected by a group of managers, coaches, and statistical analysis.  Twenty-five percent of the selection total was determined by SABR’s Defensive Index metrics, while the other 75 percent was determined by votes from all 30 managers and up to six coaches from each team.  The utility Gold Glove was determined in a separate fashion, via a defensive formula calculated by SABR and Rawlings.

National League winners….

  • Catcher: Patrick Bailey (1st Gold Glove)…..Finalists: Gabriel Moreno, Will Smith
  • First base: Christian Walker (3rd)…..Finalists: Bryce Harper, Matt Olson
  • Second base: Brice Turang (1st)…..Finalists: Ketel Marte, Bryson Stott
  • Third base: Matt Chapman, (5th)…..Finalists: Nolan Arenado, Ryan McMahon
  • Shortstop: Ezequiel Tovar (1st)…..Finalists: Dansby Swanson, Masyn Winn
  • Left field: Ian Happ (3rd)…..Finalists: Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Brandon Marsh
  • Center field: Brenton Doyle (2nd)…..Finalists: Blake Perkins, Jacob Young
  • Right field: Sal Frelick (1st)…..Finalists: Jake McCarthy, Mike Yastrzemski
  • Pitcher: Chris Sale (1st)…..Finalists: Luis Severino, Zack Wheeler
  • Utility: Jared Triolo (1st)…..Finalists: Brendan Donovan, Enrique Hernandez

American League winners….

  • Catcher: Cal Raleigh (1st)…..Finalists: Freddy Fermin, Jake Rogers
  • First base: Carlos Santana (1st)…..Finalists: Nathaniel Lowe, Ryan Mountcastle
  • Second base: Andres Gimenez (3rd)…..Finalists: Nicky Lopez, Marcus Semien
  • Third base: Alex Bregman (1st)…..Finalists: Ernie Clement, Jose Ramirez
  • Shortstop: Bobby Witt Jr. (1st)…..Finalists: Brayan Rocchio, Anthony Volpe
  • Left field: Steven Kwan (3rd)…..Finalists: Colton Cowser, Alex Verdugo
  • Center field: Daulton Varsho (1st)…..Finalists: Jarren Duran, Jake Meyers
  • Right field: Wilyer Abreu (1st)…..Finalists: Jo Adell, Juan Soto
  • Pitcher: Seth Lugo (1st)…..Finalists: Griffin Canning, Cole Ragans
  • Utility: Dylan Moore (1st)…..Finalists: Willi Castro, Mauricio Dubon
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Uncategorized Alex Bregman Andres Gimenez Bobby Witt Jr. Brenton Doyle Brice Turang Cal Raleigh Carlos Santana Chris Sale Christian Walker Daulton Varsho Dylan Moore Ezequiel Tovar Ian Happ Jared Triolo Matt Chapman Patrick Bailey Sal Frelick Seth Lugo Steven Kwan Wilyer Abreu

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Poll: Who Will Win The 2024 Home Run Derby?

By Darragh McDonald | July 15, 2024 at 3:39pm CDT

The 2024 All-Star break festivities are already well underway, with the Futures Game in the books and the second of three draft days currently taking place. Tonight, the Home Run Derby will take center stage at 7pm Central time, with these participants:

  • Mets 1B Pete Alonso
  • Phillies 3B Alec Bohm
  • Rangers OF Adolis García
  • Orioles SS Gunnar Henderson
  • Dodgers OF Teoscar Hernández
  • Braves DH Marcell Ozuna
  • Guardians 3B José Ramírez
  • Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr.

The winner will get $1MM, with $500K for the runner-up and $150K for everyone else in the field. There’s also a $100K bonus for the player who hits the longest home run. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won last year but opted not to defend his title, so there will be a new champion, though Alonso has two previous titles from 2019 and 2021 and will be looking for a third.

This year’s format will be different from previous versions, with Cole Jacobson of MLB.com providing a rundown. The primary change is that there will be no head-to-head matchups in the first round, as the four players with the most home runs will advance. If two players tie, the longest home run will be a tiebreaker. Previously, the knockout-style bracket system started right away but this year’s version won’t see that until the field has been narrowed to four. Once the knockout stage begins, ties will be settled by 60 seconds of extra time. If the players are still tied, they will engage in three-swing showdowns until they are no longer tied.

In the first two rounds, players with have three minutes, which drops to two minutes in the final round. The three-minute rounds will now have a 40-pitch maximum while the two-minute round will feature a 27-pitch maximum.

The bonus time is also different. Previous versions featured 30 seconds of automatic extra time, which jumped to 60 seconds if the player hit two or more home runs 440 feet or longer. This year, the bonus time will continue until a player record three “outs,” which is a swing that doesn’t result in a home run. If a player hits a home run 425 feet or longer in the bonus period, he will get a fourth out.

Of the eight players competing this year, Henderson has the most homers this year with 28. He is followed by Ozuna at 26, Ramírez at 23, Alonso and Hernández at 19, García at 17, Witt at 16 and Bohm at 11.

Who do you want to win and who do you think will win? Have you say in the polls below!

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2024 All-Star Game Atlanta Braves Baltimore Orioles Cleveland Guardians Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Dodgers MLBTR Polls New York Mets Philadelphia Phillies Texas Rangers Adolis Garcia Alec Bohm Bobby Witt Jr. Gunnar Henderson Jose Ramirez Marcell Ozuna Pete Alonso Teoscar Hernandez

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GM: Royals Hope To Deepen Bullpen, Add Hitter Who Can Play Outfield And Infield

By Steve Adams | June 18, 2024 at 12:46pm CDT

The Royals have been one of baseball’s best turnaround stories in 2024, currently sitting nine games over .500 and in possession of the second Wild Card spot in the American League. At five games back of the division-leading Guardians and a half-game up on the third-place Twins, they’re in a tightly contested race for their division as well.

Royals general manager J.J. Picollo joined Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville on The Windup podcast yesterday to discuss an aggressive offseason that saw Kansas City sign nine free agents for more than $100MM in total guarantees before signing franchise shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to an 11-year, $288.7MM extension. Royals fans, in particular, will want to listen to the excellent, roughly 45-minute interview in full to hear about the work to establish a new identity for the team, some inner-workings on that Witt extension and plenty of anecdotes stemming from Picollo’s lengthy career in the industry.

But Stark noted late in the conversation that given the Royals’ performance and the timing of the chat, he’d be remiss not to inquire about the Royals’ deadline needs. Picollo, naturally, didn’t tip his hand in too much detail but did speak about his desire to deepen the bullpen and add a bat that’s capable of playing both the outfield and the infield in an effort to lengthen the lineup.

“Some of our relief corps is starting to pitch to the capabilities and abilities we’ve seen in the past,” Picollo said of his relief corps. “That’s going to be helpful, which will help put pieces of the puzzle together, but getting deeper in our bullpen to come alongside of those guys, I think, would be great. Whether or not it’s a closer — that’s going to be very difficult for anybody — there’s only going to be so many of them, and the competition will be steep. But if we can get deeper and be more reliable in our bullpen, that would be great. I’ve talked in the past about strikeouts. We’re more of a matchup bullpen without necessarily the big power. Now, we do have a couple guys we think might fit the bill internally but haven’t done it quite yet.”

The Royals indeed lack the type of power arms that proliferate the late innings of modern MLB games. The Kansas City bullpen’s 93.6 mph average fastball (per Statcast) is tied for fourth-slowest in MLB. The only entrenched Royals relievers who’ve averaged 95 mph or better on their heater this season are James McArthur and Angel Zerpa. Righties Carlos Hernandez, Dan Altavilla and Will Klein have each averaged 96.7 mph or better, but none has thrown even six innings with the big league club.

McArthur, Klein and Hernandez are likely among the names to which Picollo alluded when suggesting that the organization has power arms in house that could eventually fit that bill but haven’t done so at a consistent level. Hernandez had a big first half in 2023 and averages nearly 99 mph on his blazing heater, but has struggled with subpar command and troubles keeping the ball in the park. McArthur had a dominant finish in 2023 and a big first month in 2024, but he’s sitting on a 7.20 ERA in 15 frames since the calendar flipped to May. Klein is one of the organization’s top bullpen prospects but has walked nearly 16% of his opponents in Triple-A Omaha this year.

Kansas City has gotten particularly shaky results from its two free-agent additions to the bullpen. Left-hander Will Smith and righty Chris Stratton both have pitched to ERAs north of 5.00. Stratton’s 29 1/3 innings are tops in the Royals’ bullpen, but he’s walking a career-worst 15.2% of his opponents and sitting at 92.2 mph with his heater — his lowest mark since moving from a starting role to a bullpen gig back in 2018. Smith’s 91.4 mph fastball velocity is also a career-low, as is this year’s 17.4% strikeout rate.

It’s feasible that the Royals could look to upgrade over either of those veteran additions to the pitching staff. However, Stratton signed two-year, $8MM deal with a surprising player option standing as the second season of that contract. That could afford him a longer leash, as the Royals know they’re on the hook for $4MM to him next season unless he can turn things around and put himself in position to turn down that second-year option. Smith is on a one-year, $5MM deal but has pitched better of late, with just two earned runs allowed over his past 14 2/3 innings.

With regard to the offense, it seems the Royals are open-minded as to where a new bat could slot into the defensive alignment. Picollo mentioned at multiple points throughout the interview that the Royals need more production from the outfield — as we recently detailed at length for MLBTR Front Office subscribers — but targeting a pure outfielder isn’t necessarily set in stone.

“Offensively, you always want to add a bat somewhere — lengthen your lineup,” the GM explained. “…We have three or four guys that are in the lineup every day, and we mix and match a lot, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be an outfielder, but somebody who could play outfield and infield would be ideal. Just another bat that we could lengthen our lineup out and get a little more production in the back half of our lineup.”

No team in Major League Baseball has received less production from its outfield in 2024 than the Royals, whose collective has turned in a .210/.271/.345 batting line. The resulting 72 wRC+ (indicating they’ve been 28% worse than league-average at the plate) is the lowest in the game. Hunter Renfroe, Kyle Isbel and MJ Melendez lead the Royals in outfield appearances, but of the 262 MLB hitters with at least 150 plate appearances this season, that trio ranks 218th (Renfroe), 238th (Isbel) and 250th (Melendez) in terms of wRC+.

The Kansas City infield has been far more productive, led by the aforementioned Witt, their recently extended superstar shortstop. Witt is a bona fide MVP candidate, while second baseman Michael Massey was quietly strong (.294/.306/.529) in 110 plate appearances before landing on the IL with a back injury late last month. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino has been slightly better than average, and while third baseman Maikel Garcia hasn’t hit much (.247/.299/.365), he’s played plus defense and provided outstanding value on the basepaths (17-for-17 in steals).

One common theme among the Royals’ top hitters is handedness. Pasquantino is the only healthy left-handed bat who’s provided even close to league-average offense. Melendez, Isbel, Adam Frazier and switch-hitting Drew Waters (who was optioned to Omaha as I wrote this) have all floundered at the plate. Massey, who just went on a minor league rehab assignment this week, will add another interesting left-handed bat when he returns. Even then, Kansas City will still have a predominantly right-handed lineup. Picollo didn’t specify, but adding a left-handed bat — or at least a switch-hitter who provides more from the left side of the dish — would seem particularly prudent.

However things shake out, Picollo’s comments clearly underscored a strong desire to continue the active offseason mindset into this year’s deadline. He noted that the fans in Kansas City deserve to see that level of aggression but said the motivation is about more than that.

“I also think about the players who committed to coming to Kansas City and bought into a vision that we had, which included winning and potentially getting to the playoffs,” said Picollo. “So you do feel a need to help supplement what we already have and the motivation that ownership had this offseason in signing those players.”

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Kansas City Royals Bobby Witt Jr.

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Orioles Have Shown Interest In Jesús Luzardo

By Darragh McDonald | February 15, 2024 at 2:45pm CDT

The starting pitchers of the Marlins have been popular in trade rumors and the Orioles showed the most interest in left-hander Jesús Luzardo, per a report from Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. It’s unclear exactly when the trade talks took place.

The Orioles have been looking for starting pitching all offseason so it’s logical that they would check in with Miami. The O’s were connected to trade candidates like Dylan Cease and free agents like Michael Lorenzen and James Paxton before landing a big fish when they acquired Corbin Burnes from the Brewers.

From the perspective of the Marlins, they don’t quite have the overflowing rotation surplus that they have had in the past, but it makes sense to listen to offers since they have holes elsewhere on the roster that need to be addressed. Catcher and shortstop are those spots that could clearly be upgraded but free agency doesn’t have many enticing options, so perhaps moving a starter would be their best bet even if the depth isn’t quite what it was.

They traded Pablo López to the Twins last winter as part of the return for Luis Arráez and then Sandy Alcantara required Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2023 campaign. Additionally, they traded prospect Jake Eder to the White Sox for Jake Burger, thinning out the depth a bit.

After all that, the club’s rotation mix currently consists of Luzardo, Eury Pérez, Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera and Trevor Rogers, with Sixto Sánchez, Ryan Weathers and Meyer are some of the other options on the roster.

That group has its question marks. Cabrera gets tons of strikeouts and ground balls but has also walked 14% of batters faced in his career. He’s now out of options and can no longer be sent to the minors to continue refining his command. Rogers was great in 2021 but his results backed up in 2022 and then he was limited by injuries in 2023. He made four April starts last year before going on the injured list due to a left biceps strain, later being diagnosed with a partial tear in his right lat, never making it back to the club. Sánchez has thrown just one minor league inning over the past three years due to ongoing shoulder problems. Weathers had poor results last year while Meyer missed all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The Marlins are reportedly setting a high asking price in trade talks concerning Luzardo, which is a sensible position to take. With that group of starters, they don’t strictly need to move someone since it’s arguably flimsy as it is. Luzardo is also under club control through the 2026 season, meaning the club needn’t be in any kind of hurry. He’s making $5.5MM this year and will be due two more arbitration raises in the seasons to come. That’s a bargain price for a guy who made 50 starts over the past two years with a 3.48 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate.

Cabrera and Rogers have also received some trade interest, but the asking price on them would naturally be lower on account of the Cabrera’s control problems and Rogers’ injury issues. Jackson and Mish add that the Marlins and Royals had talks about some kind of blockbuster involving Pérez and Bobby Witt Jr. but those talks quickly fizzled out. Those talks were towards the end of last season, while Kim Ng was still running the baseball operations department. Jackson and Mish report that the new regime, led by Peter Bendix, considers Pérez untouchable.

But with the holes elsewhere on the roster, there would be an argument for taking the right deal. The Marlins reportedly asked about catching prospect Samuel Basallo in trade talks with the Orioles, but the O’s had no interest in making him available. Part of Baltimore’s never-ending parade of elite prospects, Basallo is currently ranked 10th in the league by Baseball America and 7th by FanGraphs.

The Marlins currently have a catching tandem of Christian Bethancourt and Nick Fortes. Both are fairly well regarded on defense but don’t provide a lot with the bat. Bethancourt hit .231/.261/.361 last year and Fortes just .204/.263/.299. The 19-year-old Basallo would be more of a long-term solution there, as he only has four games above High-A and is unlikely to crack the majors for much of 2024, if at all.

The Orioles could also theoretically stand to part with Basallo since they already have a cornerstone catcher in Adley Rutschman, but that doesn’t seem like it will motivate them towards a deal. They also have a surplus of young talent on the infield and outfield but have generally held onto the majority of it, apart from including Joey Ortiz in the Burnes deal. They still seem to have too many players for the playing time they have to distribute but appear to be quite patient in letting moves come together.

As mentioned, it’s unclear exactly when the talks regarding Luzardo took place. Presumably, they were before the Burnes deal, but there would have been an argument for the O’s to still be pursuing rotation upgrades even after that. After that trade, the rotation projected to be Burnes, Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer and John Means. That’s a talented group but Rodriguez was inconsistent as a rookie last year while Means just returned from a lengthy Tommy John layoff. Adding Luzardo into that group would have been a viable path for the O’s to take, so it’s possible the talks happened post-Burnes, even if they didn’t make much headway.

It’s possible that their desire to get a deal done may have increased this week, however. It was reported today that Bradish has been diagnosed with a sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament, raising the spectre of Tommy John surgery. It’s still not determined if he will need to go under the knife but he will at least start the season on the injured list. Additionally, Means is about a month behind schedule due to an elbow issue he dealt with last year.

With two-fifths of their projected starting rotation now questionable, perhaps the O’s will circle back to the Marlins and reopen these talks at some point. Though the free agent market also still features notable names like Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Lorenzen, Hyun Jin Ryu and many more. Meanwhile, Cease is still on the White Sox while other trade candidates like Shane Bieber or Paul Blackburn could still be available. Even after the Burnes trade, the O’s are still considered to have an excellent farm system and could pull off just about any trade they decide to make if they really wanted.

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Baltimore Orioles Kansas City Royals Miami Marlins Bobby Witt Jr. Eury Perez Jesus Luzardo Samuel Basallo

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MLBTR Podcast: The Sale of the Orioles, Corbin Burnes Traded and Bobby Witt Jr. Extended

By Darragh McDonald | February 7, 2024 at 11:59pm CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • The sale of the Orioles (2:50)
  • The Orioles acquire Corbin Burnes from the Brewers (12:05)
  • The Royals give Bobby Witt Jr. an 11-year extension (26:50)

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Jorge Polanco Trade, Rhys Hoskins and the Blue Jays’ Plans – listen here
  • The Broadcasting Landscape, Josh Hader and the Relief Market – listen here
  • The Cubs’ Activity, Marcus Stroman And Jordan Hicks – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

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Baltimore Orioles Kansas City Royals MLB Trade Rumors Podcast Milwaukee Brewers Bobby Witt Jr. Corbin Burnes

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Royals Sign Bobby Witt Jr. To 11-Year Extension

By Darragh McDonald | February 5, 2024 at 11:59pm CDT

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.

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