SURPRISE, Ariz. – The Royals are giving one of their best young players a big raise, announcing a new three-year contract with starter Cole Ragans on Friday evening.
The deal is worth $13.25 million, sources told MLB.com.
The Royals bought out two of Ragans’ arbitration years, giving him a three-year contract that begins this season and runs through 2027. Because he was a pre-arb player before this contract – meaning he wasn’t arbitration eligible this past offseason – he’ll have one more year of arbitration eligibility before becoming a free agent after the ‘28 season.
According to a source, Ragans received a $250,000 signing bonus and will make $1 million this season. His salary jumps up to $4.5 million in ‘26 – what would have been his first arb-eligible season – and then $7.5 million in ‘27. If Ragans – who finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting in 2024 – wins the Cy Young this year or next, his ‘27 salary rises to $8 million.
Ragans, 27, is among the best starters in the game right now and has grown into an ace for a rising Royals team. He was already under control for the next several years, but buying out some arb years and guaranteeing money for another young player is more evidence of the Royals’ intention of building a sustainable winner.
The Royals acquired Ragans before the Trade Deadline in 2023, sending reliever Aroldis Chapman to the Rangers. They were excited about getting a young starter in Ragans, who had been a first-round pick in 2016 but had been sidelined with two Tommy John surgeries during his Minor League career. There was potential, for sure, but the Royals didn’t know how it would all shake out.
They certainly didn’t know at the time they were acquiring a pitcher who would grow into an ace and someone to build around in the rotation.
The Royals and Kansas City embraced Ragans, especially as he jumped onto the radar with his stellar second half in 2023, posting a 2.64 ERA and winning American League Pitcher of the Month honors in August.
He followed it up with a 3.14 ERA in 2024, striking out 223 batters across 186 1/3 innings. Last season saw Ragans make his first Opening Day start, his first All-Star Game and his first postseason nod, starting Game 1 of the first Royals’ playoff game since 2015 when he took the mound against the Orioles in the AL Wild Card Series. Ragans made two starts last October, allowing one run in 10 innings.
“A lot of us who haven’t been in the playoffs got a little taste,” Ragans said earlier on Friday. “That’s what you live for. We want to be the last one standing, holding that trophy and bringing a World Series back to Kansas City. Last year didn’t end how we wanted it to, so now it’s just building off the year we had and go from there.”
More established now in his second Spring Training with the Royals, Ragans is hopeful to take the next step individually this season, too. His slider consistency – a pitch he introduced after the trade in ‘23, opening up his repertoire – was a big key for him this offseason, believing that better execution will help him against lefties, who batted .276 against him last year.
And his overarching goal is to keep his walks down – he had an 8.8% walk rate in ‘24 – which hopefully leads to efficient outings and more innings.
“Two hundred innings is a pretty cool thing to say you’ve done, so that would be a cool thing to do,” Ragans said. “Just getting to the next batter. Where it’s not always 3-2, long counts, and eliminate those four innings, 90-pitch outings every now and then.”
As Ragans has settled into the Royals organization, he’s come to love Kansas City and all it brings, from his teammates to the city and the fans.
“It’s fun to be around everybody here,” Ragans said. “The guys that J.J. [Picollo], [manager Matt Quatraro], [assistant GM] Scott [Sharp], [CEO/chairman] Mr. [John] Sherman have talked about and brought in are unbelievable baseball players and unbelievable human beings. And it’s exciting to be around. I’m looking forward for what’s to come.
“It’s easy to show up and play for those guys in there. I love Kansas City.”
