Kansas City Royals and Michael Wacha agree to new 3-year contract
The Kansas City Royals are bringing back one of the key pieces of their 2024 turnaround on a longer-term deal.
Starting pitcher Michael Wacha has agreed to a new three-year contract with Royals, keeping him tied to the team through the 2027 season. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the contract is worth $51 million. Additionally, the deal includes a club option for the 2028 season, with the maximum value reaching $72 million if the option is picked up.
The Royals and Wacha agreed to a two-year deal with an opt-out clause last offseason. According to Passan on Sunday, Wacha was expected to exercise his right to opt out, but want to stay with Kansas City going forward. He is also going to nearly double his career earnings with this new contract, per Passan.
Kansas City is Wacha’s sixth team, having played for all of them in a six-year stretch. The former all-star posted a 13-8 record with a 3.35 ERA across 166.2 innings this season, the second-highest innings pitched total of his career. He pitched twice during the postseason, going 0-1 with 8.2 innings pitched in the ALDS against the New York Yankees.
His 3.3 fWAR this season was the 19th-best mark among starting pitchers in 2024 and was the third-best mark among Royals, following Cole Ragans (4.9) and Seth Lugo (4.7).
Sunday’s news concludes a busy week for the Royals. Earlier this week, the club declined its mutual option with utilityman Adam Frazier, who spent one season with the team. Meanwhile, outfielder Hunter Renfroe and relief pitcher Chris Stratton both exercised their players options for 2025.
The Royals finished with an 86-76 record in 2024, their first winning season since winning the World Series in 2015. They also won their Wild Card Round series against the Baltimore Orioles, their first postseason series win since the championship campaign.
For more coverage of the Kansas City Royals, check out 580 Sports Talk weekday afternoons from 3-6 on 580 WIBW.