KANSAS CITY -- As Royals general manager J.J. Picollo began to discuss the club’s five-year extension with third baseman Maikel Garcia on Wednesday, he brought everyone back to Feb. 6, 2016: The day the Royals first signed Garcia as a 16-year-old from La Sabana, Venezuela.
“A lot of the players that we sign like Maikel -- the 16-year-old Latin player -- they’re young, they’re 130 pounds, in this case, maybe 130 pounds,” Picollo said.
Garcia issued a correction: “128 pounds.”
Perhaps that is the best place to start when discussing Garcia’s evolution: He has gone from a scrawny 128-pound shortstop who signed for just $30,000 when he was 16 to a 25-year-old All-Star and Gold Glove third baseman inking an extension with the only team to even offer him a professional opportunity nearly a decade ago. The five-year extension includes a club option for 2031, covering all four of Garcia’s arbitration years and up to two free agent years.
Following Garcia’s breakout 2025 season, the Royals have ensured one of their best homegrown, core players will be in Kansas City until at least 2030.
“When you think about the evolution of Maikel, there are three things that come to mind,” Picollo said. “The athleticism, the bat-to-ball [skills], and the defense. The only thing he didn’t have as a young kid was strength. When that strength was coming, we started to realize that we had a pretty special player and a guy that had a chance to be a star.”
Garcia’s extension, sources told MLB.com, is worth a guaranteed $57.5 million, though the club option and escalators can max it out around $85 million. 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.
“I wanted to have security, [ensure] my family’s good, don’t worry about money and just focus on next year and play baseball, help the team to play better,” Garcia said. “We want to bring a championship back to the city.”
Growing up in La Sabana meant growing up with baseball. Garcia’s family includes Ronald Acuna Jr. and Alcides Escobar, who was the 2015 AL Championship Series MVP with the Royals. Garcia’s journey, though, was not easy. His father died in 2007, and his mom, Keila Escobar, raised him and took care of his grandmother. Garcia wanted to play baseball, and the Royals brought him to the Dominican Republic for a tryout after a recommendation from Alcides.
“He hit the ball hard and to the center, but it was more ground balls and really low line drives between first and second,” senior vice president/international operations Rene Francisco said. “That’s because he was so weak and young at the time. But he could control his body, field the ball well and throw it accurately. You’re not going to go wrong with that.”
The Royals’ offer was minimal. But Garcia took it and promised his mom he would make something of it.
“I knew that I just needed the opportunity to play baseball, and then I made the rest,” Garcia said.
Over the next several years, Garcia grew into a prospect. His contact skills drew high praise. His defense was elite. He became a part of the Royals’ young core rising through the farm system.
“He grew up,” Francisco said. “We saw his progress, not just on the field, but with his body, learning English, controlling his emotions. He grew as a person.”
Garcia debuted in 2022 and followed with a strong rookie campaign in ‘23. The Royals actually approached Garcia about an extension in the spring of ‘24. But then he struggled quite a bit that season, even with the Royals making it to the playoffs. Garcia posted a .614 OPS in 2024, and his 71 wRC+ was the worst among qualified Major League hitters.
“It was a tough year, man,” Garcia said. “When J.J. told me about an extension, I was excited. Getting $30,000 when I signed and then the team telling me about an extension -- I was too worried about that. Trying [to do] too much to try and get my extension.”
A strong postseason, though, catapulted Garcia into an offseason of adjustments, both physically and mentally, and it turned into a breakout 2025 campaign. 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. Adding to the club’s optimism 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.
“The one that’s probably most important is the fearlessness and the competitiveness that he has,” Picollo said. “It’s very evident that when he plays, that’s part of who he is. We can’t teach that. But he has it, and he’s had it since the day he signed. Just really proud that he’s going to be part of the left side of the infield that’s one of the best left sides of the infield in all of baseball for the next five or six years.”
That’s a huge part of all of this. The Royals now have Garcia and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. locked in through 2030. Garcia accumulated 5.8 WAR (per Baseball Reference) in 2025, and along with Witt’s 7.1 bWAR, the Royals’ left side of the infield was worth 12.9 WAR in the age-25 season of both players.
Making sure the club maximizes the prime years of Garcia and Witt is a priority for Kansas City.
“When I see a picture pop up that has both of them in the same shot, it’s like, ‘Man, every team would want to have this,’” manager Matt Quatraro said. “What we have there is something that you’ve got to be really respectful of and grateful for. What I’m really proud of Maikel for is the growth. He’s become his own guy. That’s really special.”