KANSAS CITY -- Beginning when they signed him out of Venezuela as a teenager in 2016, the Royals have seen Maikel Garcia develop through their system first as a potential utilityman, then as a rising everyday player, to this year as an All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner at third base.
Now they’re keeping him anchored to the left side of the infield with Bobby Witt Jr. for the foreseeable future.
The Royals and Garcia are finalizing a five-year contract extension with a club option for 2031, sources told MLB.com on Friday. Garcia is guaranteed $57.5 million, though the club option and escalators could get it up in the $85 million range, a source said.
The deal, which is pending a physical, has not been confirmed by the club.
According to a source, Garcia will make $4 million in 2026 (what would have been his first arbitration year), $7 million in ‘27, $10 million in ‘28, $13 million in ‘29 and $19 million in ‘30. The club option is for $21 million. There are other escalators in the 2030 and ‘31 seasons. The deal also includes a signing bonus and a $3.2 million buyout on the club option to get to the $57.5 million guarantee.
The deal covers Garcia’s four arbitration years and at least one free agent year with the potential for two if the club option is picked up, keeping Garcia in Kansas City through at least his age-30 season. That means Garcia and Witt, the Royals’ generational shortstop who signed an 11-year contract extension in 2024, are both guaranteed to be in Kansas City through the 2030 season -- extending the Royals’ window of contention with one of baseball’s best left sides of the infield.
This past season was Garcia’s breakout campaign with the Royals, his fourth season in the big leagues. He slashed .286/.351/.449 across 160 games, hit a career-high 16 home runs, drove in a career-high 74 RBIs and stole 23 bases while earning his first All-Star appearance, winning his first Gold Glove and finishing 14th in AL MVP voting.
Garcia comes from a big baseball family that includes cousins Ronald Acuña Jr. and Alcides Escobar, who was the 2015 AL Championship Series MVP with the Royals. Garcia joined the pro ball ranks when he was 16 years old, signing with the Royals, and climbed steadily up through the system, eventually turning into a top prospect who debuted in 2022. It took Garcia a few years to really catch on in the big leagues, but when he did, he was fairly unstoppable throughout this past summer. Adding to the club’s optimism that he’ll continue to improve is Garcia’s swing decisions, which led to an 86.5% contact rate in ‘25, a 20.8% chase percentage and 15% whiff percentage. Garcia walked 62 times and struck out just 84 times in 666 plate appearances last season.
Garcia accumulated 5.8 WAR (per Baseball Reference) in 2025, and added with Witt’s 7.1 bWAR, the Royals’ left side of the infield was worth 12.9 WAR with both in their age-25 seasons. Making sure the club maximizes the prime years of Garcia and Witt is a priority for Kansas City, which also has Salvador Perez for two more seasons and Vinnie Pasquantino, who is entering his first arbitration-eligible season, as the core of their lineup.