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The Royals lost in the final game of the I-70 series, 12-10, to the St. Louis Cardinals, ending any hopes of a series sweep<\/a>. Stephen Kolek had the worst outing of his professional career so far, giving up five runs in his first 15 pitches and four more before being taken out. The biggest story, however, coming out of both that game and certainly throughout the series was Jac Caglianone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The 23-year old, second year first baseman has been on an absolute tear this month and kept it going today, hitting two more moonshots, bringing his season batting average to .275. That trails only Bobby Witt Jr. amongst Royals who have taken over 100 at-bats. In the St. Louis series alone, Cags hit .416 with four home runs, seven RBIs, and struck out just once per game.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His recent play and his growth throughout this season have made it more than obvious that the Royals must lock him up on a long-term contract<\/a> for years to come. Kansas City does not have a surplus of young batting talent on this roster signed for the future aside from Witt and Maikel Garcia. While catcher Carter Jensen is also quietly making a case for his own payday, keeping Caglianone needs to be the first priority for GM J.J. Picollo this offseason.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Given that Caglianone is still only in his second season, the Royals do have the option of waiting it out and just handing him another cheap, one-year deal to make sure that this hot streak isn’t fool’s gold<\/a>. But they’d be playing with fire, expecting that he’d sign that when on the open market, the former sixth-overall pick would command a lot more. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s also important to note that the Royals did not wait long to extend Witt on an 11-year, nearly $300 million contract. He signed that after just two years of professional play, which is where Cags would be by season’s end. While Witt is an anomaly of a player on both offense and defense, Cags should command a deal around the range of a five-year, $100 million contract, making sure that he is compensated fairly, still allowing the Royals cash flexibility to keep building a solid roster.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What a Caglianone extension could mean for the future of Vinnie Pasquantino remains to be seen, as both players’ natural positions are at first base. But Cags is younger by almost five years, a better prospect, and has performed on an upward trajectory all season, while Vinnie was having his worst season in a while before a hand injury landed him<\/a> in the dugout for over a month. Whether the Royals decide to move the Sasquatch to DH or attempt to trade him away before this season’s deadline, they can ill afford to wait around to sign one of the budding stars of this league in Jac Caglianone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nRoyals must ensure Jac Caglianone does not go anywhere in the offseason<\/h2>\n