The Kansas City Royals have fought their way back into the American League Wild Card picture. With 30 games remaining on the 2025 regular season schedule, the Royals are 67-65 and sit four games back of the third and final spot, currently occupied by the Seattle Mariners. The team won 86 games last year and earned the second AL Wild Card spot before beating the Baltimore Orioles in the first round and falling short against the New York Yankees in the ALDS.
The future still appears to be bright in Kansas City, and they have plenty of players that could be key pieces of that future. They already gave Bobby Witt Jr. and Cole Ragans long-term contract extensions, but those may not be the last players they give extensions to.
Andrew Banks of Kings of Kauffman predicts that first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino could be next on the list and that the extension given to Ragans could provide the framework.
“Pasquantino signed a one-year $793,250 contract at the beginning of 2025 and is a pre-arbitration player under team control through 2028,” Banks wrote.
“He’s eligible for arbitration at the end of this year, so it will behoove the Royals to buy out those arbitration years. In fact, they did just that with Cole Ragans.
The Royals bought out two of Ragans’ arbitration years, giving him the security of knowing he’ll be in Kansas City, but also received a nice pay raise.
That could be the blueprint for KC to get a deal done with Vinnie. The Royals can offer Vinnie a three-year contract for up to $25 million. His annual salary would increase from $793,250 to $8.3 million.”
The Royals have received a lot of key contributions from Pasquantino. He is hitting .262/.322/.476 with 28 home runs, 92 RBI, a .798 OPS and a 1.6 WAR. He provides power from the left side of the plate and has been one of Kansas City’s top run producers this year.
The Royals would be wise to extend him and lock him up for the next several years. He has been a fan favorite since his arrival and is a key piece of the future. We’ll see if the Royals decide to give him a contract extension this coming offseason and what it will look like.
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