Bobby Witt Jr. on staying with Royals: ‘Honored to call this place my home’

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bobby Witt Jr.’s phone blew up Monday as news of his long-term contract with the Kansas City Royals caught fire on social media and online.

“It was unbelievable,” Witt, a precocious 23-year-old rising MLB star and the son of a former big-league pitcher, said Tuesday during a news conference after signing his new contract. “All the text messages I was getting, then seeing, ‘breaking news,’ and it was me.”

Even Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who's a little busy this week preparing for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, took a moment to text Witt.

“He was pretty fired up,” Witt said of the message from Mahomes, a minority owner of the club. “He said, ‘Let’s go, can’t wait to see what you do for this city and what’s to come.’ I just said, ‘Bring home another one. That’s a start.’”

It was a deeply personal decision for Witt to commit to the Royals for the foreseeable future, though his deal does include annual player opt-outs after the 2030 season.

As he put pen to paper on a deal that guarantees him a club-record $289 million during the next 11 years, Witt said he cried tears of joy. He’s only been overcome with such strong emotion a handful of times in his life — “all of my sisters' weddings, when I got drafted, and now today,” he said.

For a fan base that’s lived through a history of young stars being traded off as they enter their prime — Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye and Zack Greinke quickly come to mind — signing Witt through the 2034 season before he’s even arbitration eligible is a welcome change.

“This is a huge day in Kansas City — and there’s a lot going on in Kansas City this week,” Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman said. “... This is a big day for our fans, our city, our club and certainly for Bobby.”

Witt, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Colleyville (Texas) Heritage High School, finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 and seventh in AL MVP voting in 2023.

He’s the first player in MLB history with at least 50 home runs and 79 stolen bases in his first two big-league seasons.

Witt became the first Royals player to play his way into baseball’s “30/30 Club” after hitting 30 home runs with 49 stolen bases last season, but the Royals are banking on Witt only getting better.

He thanked the club “for believing in me and what’s to come,” indicating that his comfort with the club and its leadership as well as its commitment to him played a pivotal role in his decision to stay in Kansas City for the long haul.

Witt said he noticed Royals scouts at nearly every one of his 40 games as a high school senior.

“Seeing the blue up in the stands, it felt like that was right,” said Witt, who received a standing ovation before his first at-bat at Kauffman Stadium. “... I’m honored to be able to play here and to be able to call this place my home."

Sherman said he “was dreaming about it a little bit in spring training one day” when Witt was still a teenager — dreaming of the day when Witt was an established emerging MLB star and willing to commit to the Royals long-term.

“You could see the promise and the hope, but now we’ve seen it at the major league level,” Sherman said. “We all know how hard that is to make the transition. We’ve all seen players who struggle, but Bobby keeps working. His work ethic is off the charts.”

General Manager J.J. Picollo — whose offseason activity includes signing right fielder Hunter Renfroe, right-handers Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, and left-handed reliever Will Smith, among other moves — said Witt already has become a free-agent draw.

“Players are going to want to come play with Bobby Witt Jr..” Picollo said. “That’s immeasurable right now. ... There was one question everyone asked, ‘Tell me about Bobby Witt Jr.?' That’s something that’s going to continue — but, special person, special talent and a lot of comfort in committing to somebody like this.”

Witt called the offseason moves a “sign of hope.”

“It’s an exciting time, for sure,” Witt said. “... The moves they made this offseason shows you that they want to win now.”

Picollo said the process of signing Witt to a long-term deal “ramped up” in September and he felt confident after the winter meetings that talks were progressing to the point that a deal would come together before the 2024 season.

Ultimately, that was key — Witt’s faith in the Royals’ commitment to a winning future.

“I think anybody that knows us, we’ve been committed to winning for a long time,” Sherman said. “... At the end of the day, it can’t be just what you say but what you do.”

The hope is that Witt will “elevate all of us and the rest of the team by being here,” Sherman said.

“We secured a superstar in the game, so that’s step No. 1,” Picollo said. “We’re going to have a player here in the middle of our lineup or top of our lineup that’s going to be here for a lot of years. That gives us something to build around.”

Now, it’s up to Picollo and his staff to make the most of Witt’s prime and add to the two World Series titles the franchise won in 1985 and 2015.

“The most important thing to Bobby was he wanted to be in a place he thought he could win,” Picollo said. “... Whether it’s through our own player-development system and scouting or free agency, we have to acquire and put good players around Bobby year in and year out.”

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