Left-hander Cole Ragans and the Kansas City Royals are in agreement on a three-year contract extension, the team announced Friday, guaranteeing the ace's salary up until a year before he reaches free agency.
The $13.25 million deal for the 27-year-old covers the 2025 to 2027 seasons and gives Ragans $1.25 million this season, $4.5 million next year and $7.5 million the following season, sources told ESPN. Ragans will hit free agency after the 2028 season.
"He earned this contract through his hard work, perseverance and professionalism," Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said in a statement. "He's been an outstanding performer for us at a young age and his success is motivating to us moving forward."
Ragans' emergence into one of the most feared pitchers in baseball came after back-to-back Tommy John surgeries, often a career-ending injury. Ragans didn't throw a professional pitch for nearly three years, and after ascending to the big leagues with Texas, he made nine starts and 17 relief appearances before getting shipped to Kansas City in 2023 for free agent-to-be reliever Aroldis Chapman.
While Chapman helped the Rangers win the World Series, Ragans blossomed almost immediately into a front-line starter. With a fastball that can reach triple digits and a vast array of off-speed pitches, Ragans mixed strikeout stuff with plenty-good control and made his first All-Star team last year en route to a 3.14 ERA with 223 strikeouts and 67 walks in 186⅓ innings.
Ragans, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha -- who re-signed as a free agent in November -- formed the backbone for Kansas City's surprising playoff run. In addition to the returning Wacha, the Royals signed closer Carlos Estevez and traded right-hander Brady Singer for second baseman Jonathan India to complement MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr.
The Royals will give Ragans nearly a half-million dollars over the major league minimum this year and are buying out the first two years of arbitration with near-top-of-the-market salaries in a system that is comparable-based. For instance, as a first-time arbitration-eligible player with similar numbers to Ragans', Seattle Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert made $4.05 million last season.
Avoiding arbitration allows Kansas City to sidestep the possibility of Ragans winning a Cy Young Award and using the achievement to seek an arbitration salary similar to Corbin Burnes, who parlayed the award into a $6.5 million settlement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.