Royals' Cole Ragans Makes Surprise $13.25 Million Salary Decision
The Kansas City Royals snuck in some important contract business before the weekend arrived.
Left-handed starting pitcher Cole Ragans has been a revelation since arriving in Kansas City in the Aroldis Chapman trade with the Texas Rangers. He excelled as a starter in the second half of 2023 and parlayed that into an All-Star campaign during his full-on breakout season of 2024.
Ragans is 27 and the Royals have four more years of team control, so deciding whether or not to extend him beyond his rookie eligibility will be an interesting future conversation. But on Friday, Kansas City took care of his salary for the next three seasons in one fell swoop.
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Royals and Ragans are in agreement on a three-year, $13.25 million arbitration extension. In Passan's words, "The deal covers this year and his first two arbitration seasons, giving KC cost certainty and Ragans a near-top-of-the-market arb salary."
The deal does not give the Royals any extra years of control over Ragans--he's still locked in through 2028. It does, however, guarantee that he won't have to go through the arbitration process until at least the 2027-2028 offseason.
This is undoubtedly good business for the Royals, who will pay a frontline starter an average of $4.4 million over the next three seasons. It's somewhat conservative business from Ragans, who would have had a shot at making much more than that in both of his first two years of arbitration.
Ragans, if he makes a second-straight All-Star team, will be an absolute bargain for the Royals in 2026. If he shows out again that year, his contract will be highway robbery in 2027.
One can't fault Ragans, who has had two Tommy John surgeries already, for taking his first eight-figure payday when he'd never had one of even seven figures before. But he and his agent might be kicking themselves if he pitches the way he's capable of doing for the next two seasons.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org