Bobby Witt Jr to sign $289m contract with Royals after just two MLB seasons
The Kansas City Royals have agreed to terms with shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. on an 11-year deal worth more than $288.7 million, guaranteed according to multiple sources, locking up one of baseball’s young stars as the club attempts to turn around its fortunes and convince a tired fanbase to invest in a new stadium.
The agreement includes a three-year, $89 million team option that would bring the value to more than $377 million and keep Witt in Kansas City through the 2037 season. The 23-year-old’s guaranteed salary makes it the 16th-largest current deal in Major League Baseball and the second-largest pre-arbitration agreement behind the 14-year, $340 million contract the Padres signed to Fernando Tatis Jr. last April .
The Royals plan a news conference Tuesday to discuss the longest and richest deal in club history.
It includes a signing bonus on Witt’s lucky jersey No. 7 of $7,777,777, payable in seven installments, the first of which is payable within 60 days of contract approval by the commissioner’s office. Witt will receive $2 million this year, after which he would be eligible for arbitration in the three years he would be eligible: $7 million in 2025, $13 million in 2026 and $19 million in 2027.
Witt will make $30 million in 2028, the first year after he would have been eligible for free agency, and $35 million each in 2029 and 2030. He has four player options of $35 million per year from 2031-34, after which the Royals have their three-year team option that would pay $33 million in 2035 and $28 million in 2036 and 2037.
If all options are taken into account, Witt would be 37 by the time the contract expires.
“From the moment I was drafted in 2019, the entire Royals organization and fans have treated me and my family like their own,” Witt said in a statement released by the club. “This city and this team have felt like home since day 1.”
The Royals selected Witt second overall in the 2019 amateur draft, and he rocketed through the minors while winning virtually every accolade possible. He made his big league debut in 2022, hitting 20 home runs and stealing 30 bases, then had a breakout sophomore season where he became the only Royals player on the 30-30 club.
Witt finished with 30 home runs and 49 steals, making him the only player in Major League history with 50 home runs and 79 steals through his first two seasons.
“From the day we drafted him, we were confident Bobby would become one of our game’s brightest stars and greatest talents,” Royals general manager JJ Picollo said. “The past two seasons are confirmation of that talent and proof that he is an even better teammate. We know he wants to win here for our fans as much as we do.”
The Royals spent more than $100 million in free agency this offseason, hoping to turn around a beleaguered club after a 106-loss season. That investment, coupled with Witt’s massive contract, also comes as the Royals try to convince fans in Jackson County, Missouri, to renew a sales tax that would help pay for a new downtown stadium.
The Royals are expected to announce their preferred stadium location in the coming weeks. After a contentious political battle, the sales tax measure — which would also help fund the renovation of Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs for the Super Bowl — was recently approved for the April ballot.
“We are extremely proud to announce a historic deal with a very special player,” said Royals owner John Sherman, who purchased the club not long after Witt was drafted. “I am thrilled that this will ensure Bobby will be able to compete in a Royals uniform for many years to come. Bobby makes us better, and I am grateful for his commitment to our fans, our city and our team.”
The deal was also approved by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a minority owner of the Royals, who tweeted: “Congratulations my man!!!”
“He’s a role model for me,” Witt said recently of Mahomes, “just how he handles it, on and off the field. He texts me, “Hey, I see you training. How are you?’ And I say, ‘Wow.’ I show my fiance, ‘Look who just texted me!’”
These are quickly becoming great days in Kansas City. After beating the Ravens for their fourth AFC title in the last five years, the Chiefs arrived in Las Vegas this weekend to wrap up their Super Bowl preparations. They face the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in a rematch of the title game they won in 2020 at Allegiant Stadium.
While the Chiefs are led by Mahomes, the two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP, the Royals can now point to Witt as the cornerstone of their franchise. He led the club in games played, hits, triples, home runs, RBI, stolen bases and virtually every other advanced statistic last season, and he was second in the AL in hits, third in stolen bases and ninth in batting average.