Royals' Kennedy: 'It would be pretty stupid' to opt out of contract
Get used to seeing Ian Kennedy at Kauffman Stadium for awhile yet, Royals fans.
Kennedy is in the midst of the worst season of his career, sporting an inflated 5.47 ERA and 1.338 WHIP in 25 starts while striking out just 7.8 batters per nine innings. He's also set to earn $49 million over the next three seasons, assuming he doesn't opt out of the five-year, $70-million deal Kansas City inked him to two winters ago.
But don't think for a minute that Kennedy is planning to go anywhere. Although he'll have a window in which he can theoretically exercise the opt-out clause at the end of this season, the 32-year-old has no plans to leave that money on the table.
"It would be pretty stupid if I did (opt out)," Kennedy told Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star on Wednesday.
The Royals are the fourth major-league team to have employed Kennedy during his 11-year career, and by all accounts it seems that both he and his family enjoy playing and living in Kansas City. But the benefits of living in western Missouri are not the primary reason he's planning to forego using the opt-out clause. Rather, he seems to recognize that his poor performance in an injury-filled season means that there would be few suitors willing to pony up for his services should he re-enter the market.
"I don't think anybody would want how I've been throwing lately," Kennedy said. “Shoot, I haven't thought about it. If you're throwing well, then you start thinking about it.
"But right now, it doesn't look too good. You don't go to the free-agent market pitching how I've been. No one is going to want that."