KANSAS CITY.- The owner of the Kansas City Royals in the MLBJohn Sherman remembers standing near the fence in spring training in Arizona in 2020, shortly after he acquired the team, watching prospect Bobby Witt Jr. hitting line drives all over the field.
Sherman knew he was seeing something special.
In the following years, Witt continued to impress in the minors and debuted in the Major Leagues in 2022 with 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases. The following year he had a campaign to remember in which he was seventh in the MVP voting, achieving things that led him to be on lists that include Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.
Witt will continue to do those things with Kansas City.
The Royals officially signed the 23-year-old shortstop to a massive 11-year, $288.7 million guaranteed contract on Tuesday. The longest and most expensive contract in the history of the club and that includes a team option in the third year of 89 million dollars and that would take the contract to be worth 377 million for Witt to stay until 2037.
“We wanted to get it done before the season and even before spring training and this was the time to do it,” Sherman acknowledged at a press conference at Kauffman Stadium. “It is very, very difficult to draft and develop a generational talent and it is even more difficult for him to stay in the same uniform and that is what it is about.”
Months of negotiations in Kansas:
In September, the Royals approached Witt to offer him a long-term contract after he concluded a season in which he showed he will be key to rebuilding a team that lost 106 games. Negotiations began during the winter meetings and a little creativity on both sides helped them find a middle ground this weekend.
The agreement includes No. 7, his lucky number, with a signing bonus of $7,777,777 million that he will receive in seven payments in the first 60 days of the contract and that must be approved by the commissioner’s office.
Including all options, Witt will be 37 years old when his contract expires.
Source: AP
