Royals’ next impact move is obvious after Cardinals-JJ Wetherholt extension

While the baseball world as a whole is gearing up for this weekend's MLB Draft and Monday and Tuesday's All-Star festivities, the St. Louis Cardinals zigged while everyone else seems to be zagging. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Royals' I-70 rivals extended their rookie powerhouse JJ Wetherholt to an eight-year contract which was later revealed to be worth $112.5 million. This comes off the back of Wetherholt posting a 118 wRC+ and 3.6 fWAR start to his debut season.

Wetherholt is just the latest youngster to receive a lucrative extension this season after names like Colt Emerson received an eight-year extension of his own from the Seattle Mariners and Luis Lara received a seven-year pact from the Milwaukee Brewers before making his MLB debut a few days ago. With so many teams committing to their young talents, perhaps it's time for the Royals to do the same with Carter Jensen.

The 23-year-old catcher has taken the Royals starting backstop role by the horns this season as Salvador Perez continues to decline. This season he's sporting a .246/.312/.438 slash line with 13 homers, 49 RBI and a 104 wRC+ while also holding down the leadoff position for the Royals, providing a long-awaited answer to that all-important spot in the lineup.

And recently, Jensen has hit another gear entirely. Since June 6, the former top prospect is slashing .308/.356/.561 with six homers, 21 RBI and a 148 wRC+.

He seems as comfortable in a Royals uniform as anyone right now and has already assumed multiple key roles for them as both their leadoff anchor and starting game-caller behind the dish. Perez isn't going to get any better behind the dish at this point so there's no denying the path for his future has never looked clearer.

The Royals should be entering their competitive future in 2027 and beyond and it seems clear that Jensen is part of their plans, so why not delay the inevitable and ensure the hometown kid and homegrown talent is alongside the likes of Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia and Co. at the center of hopefully the next winning chapter in Royals franchise history.

Carter Jensen is priority, but other names could be Royals extension candidates soon

Jensen seems to have the most poise of all the Royals youngsters, but there's a pair of potentially key Royals who may be on the verge of proving they're worthy of extensions as well.

There's an argument to be made that Jac Caglianone is having a better season at the plate this year with a .777 OPS and 113 wRC+ this season. However a slow start, lack of plate discipline with a 30.0% K-rate and occupying a less-important defensive position than Jensen are some red flags against a potential extension right now.

On top of that, unlike Wetherholt, Caglianone has not quite lived up to the expectations of a Top 10 draft pick. His hot month of June is the closest we've seen him potentially showing off his impressive ceiling and could be on his way to meeting such expectations that by year's end, but he's yet to look like a bona fide future star consistently to this point. The Royals should potentially wait until the offseason and beyond when they have more of a sample size of success to build off of before making a decision on him.

Then there's Noah Cameron, who like Jensen could force the Royals hand for an extension in the next few seasons or so due to positional necessity. With Cole Ragans injury future uncertain after undergoing UCL surgery and being out until at least the middle of 2027, Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo only getting older and Kris Bubic likely set for free agency after his injury-ridden 2026 campaign, the future of the Royals pitching staff is quite murky.

Now, Cameron comes with his red flags himself, as he's followed up his 2.99 ERA season and near-finalist finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2025 with a 4.77 ERA through the first half of this campaign. However, as a former top five prospect within the Royals system that's also sporting a 3.81 FIP with a diverse pitching arsenal, he's certainly someone for the the future.

By no means should the Royals anchor their rotation around Cameron and unlike Jensen or Caglianone, doesn't deserve a mega-extension. However, perhaps buying into his arbitration years with a shorter-term deal could provide Kansas City with some stability in their uncertain rotation.

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