The Kansas City Royals signed starting pitcher Michael Wacha to a three-year contract, the team announced Sunday.
"Just the way the season went throughout the summer, we fell in love with the city, fell in love with the team, the staff here, everyone involved in the stadium," Wacha said, according to MLB.com's Anne Rogers.
"We didn't want to go somewhere else."
Wacha's deal is worth $51 million and includes a club option for a fourth year as well as incentives that would increase the total value to $72 million, ESPN's Jeff Passan reports.
Kansas City would have likely extended Wacha a qualifying offer had he not exercised his $16-million player option for 2025, Passan adds.
The righty returns to Missouri after enjoying one of the strongest seasons of his career. He posted a 3.35 ERA and 1.19 WHIP across 166 2/3 innings, his most since 2015 while with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Wacha owns a 3.89 ERA over 12 MLB campaigns.
