Seth Lugo As the right-handed and Royals are in the final stages of negotiating a new contract extension, it has gone from potential trade candidates to a cornerstone of rotation. The new deal is a two-year, $46mm covenant that offers club/attachment options for the 2028 campaign. The money is a $3mm signing bonus from Lugo, a 20mm salary for 2026 and 2027, followed by a $17mm club option for 2028, with the acquisition of $3mm. If Lugo reaches the attribution threshold, the 2028 option will lock in an additional 20mm salary. Lugo is represented by the Ballengee Group.
Lugo was able to opt out of his last season in the previous three years (45mm $45mm contract), but the right-hander will stay in Kansas City instead of making an exit decision this winter. There is no doubt that Lugo (36 November) will reject his player choice and leave his last 15mm on the table in search of a larger and longer guarantee for free agents.
As royals also struggle to play the playoffs, there is some speculation that KC may move veterans by Thursday’s deadline. However, recent reports suggest that not only does the royal family want to retain Lugo after July 31, but the club wants to reach a new contract to convince Lugo to abandon his exit clause.
Assuming the extension negotiation does cross the finish line, Lugo will join Cole Ragans and Michael Wacha As the Royals starter is at least in the 2027 contract, it depends on the details of Lugo’s new deal. The three-year deal signed by Wacha last November was also a ghost of the player option as Wacha was able to choose the 16mm salary for the 2025 season and test the market. Ragans signed a three-year, $13.25mm extension last February, which is more important than cost certainty than team control, as the deal only covers Southpaw in his second arbitration, and Kansas City still puts ARB controls on Ragan through the 2028 campaign.
Between the trio, between the rookies Noah Cameronand the remaining years of arbitration control for members of the royal family Kris BubicKansas City’s 2026 rotation may have been set. This does not include injured pitchers Kyle Wright and Alec Marshtherefore, KC has a lot of pitching depth as the club tries to find bigger offensive issues.
Lugo started as a starter during the seven-year opening of his career with the Mets, then entered more part-time starter/swinger roles, and finally served as a full-time reliefist for 2021-22. Entering free agents after the 2022 campaign, Lugo hopes to return to the rotation and has reached a two-year, $15mm free agent deal with the Padres, which includes player options for the 2024 season. After a steady year in San Diego, Lugo rejected the option and returned to free agent to find his three-year commitment in Kansas City.
Since he returned to start pitching, Lugo’s ERA has dropped from 3.57 in 2023 to 3.00 in 2024, and 2.95 this year has dropped more than two seasons. At that span, his mountains remained almost identical, reaching an average of 3.98 figures, which is probably more fairer than his production reflects his 3.17 ERA since the opening day of 2023 than his 3.17 ERA. Despite a lot of hard contacts and allowing a lot of subpart tough rates, Lugo always surpassed his perimeter, but always exceeded the 3.6.2bb limit (6.2bb bl). Despite its speed of 91.6mph, the fastball also has enough spin.
Lugo has gained quite a lot of playing luck to support his numbers, but since he is now in his third year, the veteran obviously does more than relying on good luck to retire batsmen. He also answered all questions about whether he was durable enough to put in 206 2/3 innings in 2024, which is a key reason why Lugo finished second in the Al Cy Young Award vote.
The Royals are enough to get Lugo to pay an additional 31mm, except for the 15mm they have agreed to pay him by 2026. It’s a big change for the pitchers’ 36-37 season, but obviously, the Royals like what they’ve got from Lugo and believe he can carry it into his 30-30 season. The average annual profit value of $23mm per year is a bit eye-opening, although as MLBTR’s contract tracker tells us, 11 pitchers 30 or older have surpassed AAVs in free agents over the last three offseasons.
It is also worth noting that the idea of Kansas City signing a player with such a contract is no longer as surprising as it was a few years ago. Now that the royal family has withdrawn from the reconstruction period, owner John Sherman has spent more, most notably Bobby Witt Jr.long-term large contract. Royals’ playoff appearances in 2024 prove that teams are paying dividends for lineup construction, and while their 2025 record is disappointing, there are enough pitching cores to suggest that even the league average can bring KC back to the playoffs. Recent Club additions Adam Frazier and Randal Grichuk It is recommended that the royals have not given up this year, even if the winter may save on bigger roster upgrades, even larger roster upgrades.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to cover both sides. MLB.com’s Anne Rogers (multiple links) has details on the transaction’s two-year deadline and financial breakdown, while New York Post’s Jon Heyman is the first to report that Lugo will be guaranteed on the 46mm field.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Images
