Lorenzo Cain, Kansas City Royals Outfielder, Agrees to Contract Extension

Kansas City Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain is coming off the heels of a spectacular year. He won a World Series and finished third in the AL MVP voting (not bad for a guy who didn't play the sport until high school). Unsurprisingly, the Royals wanted to keep him around. Cain apparently didn't see any reason to object--at least, not right now--and the two sides came to an agreement on an extension.

The deal is reported to be worth $17.5 million over the next 2 years, seeing out the final two arbitration seasons on his contract. A player is eligible for an arbitration contract only after their 3rd year in the league and not passed their 6th. If a player finds themselves in that position (during the 3-6 year period), they can take their salary demands to an arbitration panel if they can't reach an agreement with the team. However, they can forgo the hearing process if they do reach an agreement with their team (it's all as confusing as it sounds).

While the Royals did talk about buying out some of Cain's free agent seasons (anything after year 6), the two weren't able to come to an agreement and filed for arbitration numbers instead. Kansas City will pay Cain $6.5 million this upcoming season, and $11 million for the 2017 season, according to Yahoo! Sports.

The 29-year-old has always been a force with the glove on defense, but it's what he did on offense last season that took his game to the next level. He hit for an impressive average (.307), while knocking out 16 home runs, the most in a single season of his career, Bleacher Report shares.

Cain was a piece that Kansas City desperately wanted to keep for the next couple of years, with a handful of key players--Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez--coming into the prime of their careers. The window of opportunity is now for the Royals. Cain will only help their cause.