The Case For (and Against) Extending Vinnie Pasquantino
The Royals are at an inflection point with their first baseman. What direction do they go?
Every team has big decisions to make, but the teams that don’t play in the big boy payroll sandbox sometimes have bigger ones. Every eight-figure contract needs to be scrutinized the way a family often has to examine what they really need and what they just want. One of those decisions is how to handle extending players beyond their years of control. For a player like Bobby Witt Jr., it’s easy. He’s a franchise changer. And it’s no insult to say that very few players are Bobby Witt Jr., so most of the rest come with the question of whether or not it’s better to just go year-to-year or if it’s wise to lock them in at a rate that represents something of a compromise from both sides.
And that’s part of it too. The player has to be willing to say yes to a deal. I get the feeling that Pasquantino would be willing to say yes to a deal, but I don’t know that for certain. So it has to be a perfect storm, and obviously the less a player is willing to commit long-term, the more the compromise skews toward his number. As I said, I do feel like Pasquantino would be open to it. The player is the driver, but Pasquantino’s agency has been very open to extensions for awhile. They represent guys like Brent Rooker and Brandon Lowe, who have both gotten some deals done. I guess you can find deals for any agency, even Scott Boras, but it still shows they get done.
But, again, there’s an argument either way with any player, and I think the Pasquantino one is maybe the most interesting because of how easy I think it is to see either side here. Let’s look at why the Royals should extend him, why they shouldn’t and then what it might cost.
Yes, Extend Him
There are two sides of Pasquantino’s value. The one you see is what he does on the field. In 2025, he hit .264/.323/.475 with 32 home runs and 113 RBIs. Only 15 players had more home runs in all of baseball. Only five had more RBIs. Hitting the ball over the wall is the best bet to score a run and even when he doesn’t, he drives in runs as well as anyone. And while the home runs are new for him, he was fourth in baseball in RBIs in 2024 before his injury, so that part is nothing new. The RBI is dependent on a lot of factors, which is why it’s not used as heavily in evaluation. But at some point, you have to admit a guy is good at driving in the run.