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Witt, Kansas City's first-round draft pick (No.
2 overall) in 2019, had six triples, 20 home runs and 80 RBIs in
2022, when he finished fourth in AL rookie-of-the-year voting.
"I am incredibly grateful to the Sherman family and the Royals
front office for believing in me, and I promise to do everything
in my power to help bring championship baseball back to Kansas
City! Let's go!!" Witt said in a post to X (formerly Twitter),
in a reference to John Sherman, who purchased the Royals in
2019.
The Royals have not finished a regular season above .500 since
winning the World Series in 2015 and were 56-106 last season, a
.346 winning percentage that was tied for the worst in franchise
history.
The contract only adds to Witt's role as the budding face of a
franchise that hopes to move into a new stadium in the near
future, with a downtown site under consideration. A stadium tax
of less than half a cent, that also will benefit the Kansas City
Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium, is up for a vote this spring.
The 11-year contract for Witt also includes four opt-out seasons
starting in 2030 and has an option that would add three more
years to the tail end of the deal and take it to $377 million.
The only MLB player to land a bigger guaranteed deal before
reaching their first arbitration season was Fernando Tatis Jr.,
who signed a 14-year, $340 million contract in 2021.
Witt is the son of former major leaguer Bobby Witt, who pitched
for 16 seasons. Tatis is the son of former major leaguer
Fernando Tatis, who played for 11 seasons.
--Field Level Media
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