KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Nearly a decade ago, international scouts from the Kansas City Royals signed a frail 16-year-old from Venezuela with athleticism, bat-to-ball skills and defensive prowess.
“The only thing he didn’t have was strength,” Royals executive vice president and general manager J.J. Picollo said. “When that strength was coming, we started to realize we had a pretty special player.”
Wednesday morning inside Kauffman Stadium, the Royals made official a multi-year commitment to that now 25-year-old, Maikel Garcia, commemorating a five-year extension with a press conference.
“It’s a great day,” said Picollo. “When I think about a lot of the players that we sign like Maikel, the 16-year-old Latin player, they are young, they are 130 pounds.”
“128,” Garcia interjected to laughs in the room, which included his mother and agent.
“They sign for $30,000 and have an opportunity to play baseball and play professional baseball,” Picollo continued. “You can only hope that somebody gets to the Major Leagues, let alone gets to this point.”
“The Royals were the only team to give me the opportunity to play baseball and that was the only offer I had when I was young,” Garcia recalled. “I always appreciate the Royals for the opportunity and I know that I just needed an opportunity to play baseball and then I would make the rest.”
Garcia got to this point a year after the Royals began extension talks during Spring Training ahead of the 2024 season.
“And then ‘24 didn’t quite go the way we all wanted to go,” Picollo said, “and luckily he understood where we were.”
In 2025, after not being an Opening Day starter, Garcia blossomed into a surprise All-Star in the American League. Posting career bests in WAR, hits, walks, doubles, home runs and RBI, Garcia won a Gold Glove at third base and was a Silver Slugger finalist.
“It’s exciting to know I want to play third base after winning the (Gold Glove),” Garcia said. “I feel like I’m a natural third baseman.”
Garcia’s deal keeps him with the Royals through at least 2030 and includes a club option for 2031. It has a base salary of $57.5 million and incentives that could result in the La Sabana, Venezuela, native making up to $85 million, according to a report from MLB.com’s Anne Rogers. It also was done while the Royals still had four years of club control over Garcia.
“I wanted security,” Garcia said of signing the deal before the 2026 season. “My family’s good. Don’t worry about money. Just focus this year and play baseball and help the team to play better. And we want to bring the championship back to this city.”
The deal solidifies the left side of the infield along with superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. for years to come, something that excites Picollo and the Royals.
“Our pitchers like it, because there’s not a lot getting past the left side of the infield,” Picollo said with Garcia and Witt Jr. each bringing home Gold Gloves in 2025. “I think the way this thing has evolved, the way his bat’s evolved, we’re not going to move off of that right now. With Bobby and Maikel, it’s pretty secure.
“They’re going to stay young, their bodies are going to stay young. There’s a lot of range there and reason to think they’ll both continue to get better because they both work at it. And more than anything they love playing.”
Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. (7) celebrates hitting a two-run home run with Maikel Garcia (11) during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)(Colin E. Braley | AP)
In consecutive offseasons, the Royals have now signed Garcia and Witt Jr. to contract extensions and pushed their payroll beyond where it has typically been for the franchise in previous decades relative to the rest of the MLB.
“I think it’s a clear sign from ownership, the support we’re getting, the belief in what we have on the field, the commitment to trying to win year in, year out,” Picollo said. “When teams make commitments like this to players, I think it’s a clear indication that we’re going to take care of our players. When they do things on the field, we’re going to recognize it and try to keep them longer than the six years that we have them.”
Now, Garcia sets his sights on helping the Royals reach the playoffs again in 2026 and on his goal of playing all 162 games.
“I want to play the same way I did this year and be ready every day to help the team,” Garcia said.
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