MLB Rumors: Whit Merrifield Agrees $16.25M 4-Year Extension With Royals

The Kansas City Royals are close to confirming a deal for Whit Merrifield after reaching an agreement with the second baseman over a four-year extension, according to the MLB Network’s Jon Paul Morosi.

Merrifield made his debut for the Royals in 2016, one year after they won the World Series and has now established himself as one of the premier utility players in the league. The second baseman only made it to the Majors three years back but led in hits (192) and stolen bases (45) last season.

The Royals have turned down various trade requests for Merrifield in recent years with general manager declaring prior to last summer’s non-waiver trade deadline that they are keen to keep Merrifield in Kansas for the foreseeable future. The new deal is clearly a show of commitment to the player.

The second baseman was one of the best baseball players last year batting .304/.367/.438 with 12 home runs, 60 RBI and 88 runs scored, according to Yahoo Sports. He also ranked 16th among qualified position players, tied with Atlanta Braves’ Freddie Freeman at 5.2 WAR – with 2.0 considered average.

According to Morosi, the four-year extension between the Royals and Merrifield will be worth $16.25 million with $2 million in performance bonuses, which is a small increase from the initial reports that claimed the deal is worth $15 million.

Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox continue their open pursuit of Manny Machado and Bryce Harper with general manager Rick Hahn making it clear that they will be disappointed if they do not land either one of the in-demand free agents before the new campaign gets underway.

But Hahn is certain that the White Sox will not sign both the players as it will not make sense in the long-term as it will limit their flexibility in the market. Machado is likely their main objective with Yonder Alonso, whom the White Sox acquired in December also joining the team in serenading his brother-in-law to move to Chicago.

"These are obviously not the last two free agents that we intend to add in the future," Hahn said at SoxFest, as quoted on ESPN. "Having two commitments of the magnitude they're gonna require on the same roster probably limits your flexibility and might not be the strongest move for us long term."

The Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals are the other three teams in the hunt for the two in-demand free agents, but the saga is likely to continue into February as none of the teams have matched the players’ demands thus far.