According to Dick Kaegal of MLB.com, the Royals and Billy Butler have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a four-year, $30 million extension.
Butler, who was arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter, filed for $4.3 million and was offered $3.4 million from the Royals when arbitration figures were exchanged earlier this week. The new contract will cover all three of his arbitration seasons and his first year of free agency.
Butler has a .299/.359/.457 batting line over his first four seasons in the big leagues. Though his power numbers dipped a bit last season, he established career-highs with a .318 batting average, .388 on-base percentage, an .857 OPS and 189 hits. Butler doesn’t turn 25 years old until April and should be an important part of a promising rebuilding process in Kansas City.
