Kansas City Royals Sign Veterans Hunter Renfroe, Michael Wacha to Multi-Year Deals
The Kansas City Royals have signed outfielder Hunter Renfroe and starting pitcher Michael Wacha, according to multiple reports Friday morning.
MLB.com's Mark Feinsand was first to break the news on Renfroe joining the Royals. His new contract will be worth $13 million over two years.
Renfroe is slated to make $5.5 million in 2024 and $7.5 million in 2025. There is an opt-out clause for Renfroe after the first year, and he also has $500K available in performance bonuses each season.
After spending the first four seasons of his career with the San Diego Padres, Renfroe has bounced around between the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels and Cincinnati Reds in the last four years alone. Excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, Renfroe has hit 20-plus home runs in six consecutive seasons.
The 31-year-old outfielder hit .233 with 20 home runs, 60 RBI, a .713 OPS and a -0.6 WAR in 2023.
FanSided's Robert Murray was on top of the Wacha signing, while Feinsand chipped in with the numbers after the fact. The veteran right-hander is inking a two-year, $32 million deal that, like Renfroe's, includes an opt-out and $500K in annual performance bonuses.
Wacha was with the St. Louis Cardinals for seven seasons, making an All-Star appearance in 2015, but he has been with four teams in four years since 2020. He has shared a lot of stops with Renfroe, having also spent time with the Rays, Red Sox and Padres, but the pair never overlapped prior to Friday.
At 32 years old, Wacha went 14-4 with a 3.22 ERA, 1.161 WHIP and 2.4 WAR as a member of the Padres in 2023.
The Royals have been one of the most active teams on the free agent market, even looking beyond these two newest additions.
On Tuesday, Kansas City signed starting pitcher Seth Lugo and reliever Chris Stratton, right after they finalized a deal with All-Star closer Will Smith. They also signed longtime Colorado Rockies utility man Garrett Hampson in late November.
In doing so, the Royals have committed $105 million to six free agents, adding $47 million to their 2024 payroll in the process. Their total payroll was $92 million in 2023.
The perpetual AL Central cellar dwellers finally have something to be excited about, despite coming off their worst season since 1981. The team's official social media accounts even celebrated the influx of talent with a picture of manager Matt Quatraro, photoshopped to have laser eyes.
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