The Kansas City Royals continued their busy offseason by signing right-hander Michael Wacha to a one-year contract with a player option for 2025, the team announced.
ESPN's Jeff Passan initially reported the deal was to be for two years and $32 million.
Wacha's contract reportedly includes an opt-out after 2024 and he also gets $500,000 worth of performance bonuses, a source told Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Those bonuses are based on innings pitched, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reports.
The Wacha signing comes a few hours after Kansas City reportedly added outfielder Hunter Renfroe on a two-year, $13-million deal Friday.
The 32-year-old Wacha is the second veteran addition to the Royals' rotation this winter following their three-year deal with Seth Lugo. Wacha and Lugo were rotation-mates with the San Diego Padres this past season, and they also both pitched for the New York Mets in 2020.
Wacha joins the Royals on the heels of his best individual campaign since his All-Star season of 2015. In 24 starts with the Padres, he posted a 3.22 ERA, 3.89 FIP, and 1.16 WHIP with 124 strikeouts and only 15 home runs allowed.
Wacha became a free agent after he and the Padres declined a series of multi-year team and player options in November. The club option that San Diego chose to decline was for two years and $32 million, the exact amount he'll reportedly receive from the Royals.
While Kansas City hasn't signed any of the top free agents on the market, the small-market club has spent quite a bit this winter, hoping to improve its roster after a 106-loss season. In addition to Wacha, Lugo, and Renfroe, the team also signed relievers Will Smith and Chris Stratton, as well as utility player Garrett Hampson.
Between a two-year, $13 million deal with outfielder Hunter Renfroe that @Feinsand reported earlier today and the Wacha deal that @ByRobertMurray was on top of, the Royals now have committed $105 million in free agent dollars to Renfroe, Wacha, Lugo, Stratton, Smith and Hampson.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 15, 2023
The Royals haven't posted a winning record since their World Series-winning season in 2015, and have reached the playoffs just twice since the wild card began in 1995.
