The Kansas City Royals locked up one of their most promising young arms Saturday. According to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (via SportsCenter), Yordano Ventura agreed to a five-year, $23 million extension with the team. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports provided more detail:
Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan initially reported Thursday that Ventura and the Royals were working on a five-year deal with about $20 million guaranteed that would have a club option for a sixth year.
There wasn't really any threat that the 23-year-old was on the verge of leaving Kansas City. He's not set to become a free agent until 2020 at the earliest. This deal does, however, ensure the team will avoid Ventura's arbitration years from 2017 through 2019, which could've proved costly.
Ventura is coming off a very strong 2014 campaign. He finished with a 14-10 record and a 3.20 ERA. According to FanGraphs, he had the second-highest WAR (2.4) among the Royals' starting pitchers and posted the most strikeouts per nine innings (7.74).
The right-hander also dazzled in the American League Division Series and World Series, during which he threw 19.1 innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out 11 batters.
The Royals announced in March that Ventura will be their starting pitcher on Opening Day, per MLB on Twitter:
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Steve Busby is the only pitcher in team history younger than Ventura to start an Opening Day:
Of course, this extension isn't without risks. Passan noted in his article that it may not bode well for Ventura's health that he is 6'0" and 180 pounds but throws 100 miles per hour. That's a lot of stress placed on a somewhat slight frame.
Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci also put Ventura on his list of pitchers at risk for injury in 2015 because his innings pitched jumped from 150 in 2013 to 208.1 in 2014 (playoffs included).
"The Royals tend to be one of the more liberal organizations when it comes to innings limits, and manager Ned Yost said last spring that Ventura could add 30 to 50 innings (or 20 to 33 percent) to the 150 he threw in 2013," Verducci wrote. "Ventura added 58.1 thanks to Kansas City's playoff run. For a 6'0" right-hander who throws 98 mph, he bears watching."
Despite those concerns, few will argue with the Royals' decision to extend Ventura this offseason rather than waiting another year or two. Ventura has electric stuff, and if he stays healthy, he could be the ace of the staff for years to come.
And even if he blows out his arm in 2015 and is never the same again, the team didn't commit a massive sum financially, so it wouldn't be saddled with a high sunk cost.
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