Sources: Royals retain Michael Wacha on 3-year, $51M deal - ESPN

Right-hander Michael Wacha and the Kansas City Royals agreed on a three-year, $51 million contract that includes a fourth-year club option and can max out at $72 million, sources told ESPN.

The Royals announced the deal Sunday but did not disclose terms.

Wacha, 33, was expected to opt out of the final year of the two-year, $32 million deal he signed with the Royals last winter but preferred to stay in Kansas City, where he thrived in front of one of baseball's best defensive teams.

Kansas City likely would have tendered Wacha a qualifying offer, which would have dampened his free agent market, and the sides struck a deal during the five-day quiet period after the World Series during which teams can re-sign their free-agents-to-be. Wacha will nearly double his career earnings with the deal.

Wacha's nomadic career — he has played for six teams in the past six seasons — has been on the upswing since he turned 30. He found perhaps the best version of himself last year, going 13-8 with a 3.35 ERA in 29 starts, his most since 2017. Wacha and Seth Lugo, his former San Diego Padres teammate, helped stabilize a rotation that also includes All-Star Cole Ragans and drove Kansas City's evolution from a 56-win team in 2023 to an 86-win playoff team this year.

«I can't say enough good things about him as a teammate. I really can't,» Royals manager Matt Quatraro said before Wacha's Game 1 start of the American League Division Series. «He is the most dialed-in pitcher I have ever seen when he's not pitching. He's into every pitch. He's high-fiving guys for keeping the double play in order, for breaking up a double play, for throwing to the right base. He's into every at-bat when his teammates are up there. He's looking for things with