Two key pieces of the World Series champions won’t be going anywhere in 2016. The Kansas City Royals announced on Thursday that they picked up the options for Wade Davis and Alcides Escobar next season.
Davis will earn $8 million, while Escobar‘s contract will pay him $5.25 million.
Keeping both players on the roster was a no-brainer for the Royals. Davis and Escobar have been integral to the team’s success over the last two years, and neither player will have an exorbitant salary for 2016. Davis in particular is a steal, coming in at under $10 million.
The 30-year-old was arguably the best setup man in MLB until he had to fill in for injured closer Greg Holland. Davis saved 17 games in 2015 and recorded a 0.94 earned run average and 2.29 FIP, per Baseball-Reference.com.
As Fox Sports’ C.J. Nitkowski noted, Davis has performed even better in the postseason over the course of his career:
Escobar, meanwhile, hit .257 with three home runs, 47 RBI and 17 stolen bases. He earned MVP honors in the 2015 American League Championship Series after going 11-for-23 with five RBI and six runs scored against the Toronto Blue Jays.
While not a consistent threat offensively over the years, Escobar‘s defense and work on the basepaths helped him remain a fixture in the Royals batting order.
Kansas City general manager Dayton Moore likely only needed seconds before deciding to lock up Davis and Escobar for 2016.
Now, he can focus more of his efforts on holding on to Ben Zobrist, Johnny Cueto and Alex Gordon, who declined his player option and will thus become a free agent, per Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star.
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