Royals Urged To Follow Cole Ragans Extension With Lucrative Deal For Fan-Favorite
It may not have been a flashy offseason for the Kansas City Royals, but it's been a productive one.
Kansas City re-signed Michael Wacha to secure the top half of their starting rotation. They brought in Jonathan India to bat leadoff. Carlos Estévez should help lock down games in the late innings. Then, at the end of last week, the Royals made a savvy move with one of their young stars.
With a three-year, $13.25 million extension for lefty starter Cole Ragans, the Royals gave a talented young player some financial security while also potentially saving some future payroll. While it didn't give the club any extra control over Ragans, it was good business from a small-market team.
Ragans' extension also prompted one Royals writer to single out an "obvious" next move for this Kansas City club.
On Monday, FanSided's Joe Summers strongly urged the Royals to ink first baseman and fan-favorite Vinnie Pasquantino to a contract extension, giving the 27-year-old similar financial security that Ragans is now able to enjoy.
"First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino is the obvious "next man up" to receive a contract extension. Only 27 years old, Pasquantino had career-best numbers in 2024 with 19 home runs, 97 RBI, and 40 walks in 131 games," Summers wrote.
"He's making only $800,000 this year. The Royals don't need to offer an extension, but it would be a huge step in the right direction to prove this is a player-friendly franchise that takes care of its guys. Pasquantino is a building block for the future and deserves to be paid like it."
Summers didn't mention what sort of extension the Royals should pursue with Pasquantino, and that's a more interesting conversation. A Ragans-like deal that only covers arbitration years would leave Pasquantino's long-term future slightly in doubt, even keeping the unlikely possibility of a future trade on the table.
But if the Royals bought out all of Pasquantino's arbitration years and added more team control on the back end, they'd send a clear message that they believe the lefty slugger is the "building block" Summers makes him out to be.
Or, of course, the Royals could leave the conversation for another day, which is the luxury a club has with a player still four years away from free agency.
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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