The Kansas City Royals and flamethrower Yordano Ventura are close to completing a five-year contract extension with an option for a sixth season according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.
The deal will guarantee Ventura more than $20 million as Passan also reported.
This would be a very risky move for Kansas City because the starter had two injury scares last season, both involving his throwing arm. The first was discomfort on the outside of his elbow, and the second was soreness in his right shoulder.
If the Royals lock him up, they will be banking on his health to be nearly perfect over all those years. He has incredible fastball velocity, but that could lead to a big injury down the road.
The two injury scares in 2014 did not stop Ventura from tossing 183 innings in the regular season. He then threw 25.1 postseason innings to give him more than 200 innings on the entire MLB season. Ventura averages a 97-mph fastball, which is unheard of at any level. He also worked on developing his secondary pitches, the curve ball and change up. Both those pitches got better and better as the season rolled on. Hopefully, he can master them sooner rather than later.
When he was only 19, Kansas City scouts offered offered Ventura $28,000 to sign, a small bonus even by the deflated standards in the Dominican Republic. He accepted.
After pushing him and pushing him, the Royals are set to make Ventura a big-time deal that will surely change his life forever. Ventura's deal will be somewhat like Julio Teheran's deal with the Atlanta Braves last spring. Teheran got $32.4 million over six years plus a club option. As far as cash per year goes, it is approximately the same.