Royals agree to two-year extension with center fielder Michael A. Taylor

KANSAS CITY, MO (September 29, 2021) – The Kansas City Royals announced today that they have agreed to a two-year extension with center fielder Michael A. Taylor that will cover the 2022-23 seasons. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In 137 games with the Royals this season, Taylor has 12 home runs and 14 stolen bases, and is one game shy of matching his career high of games played with Washington in 2015. He’s scored a career-high 56 runs this season and his 52 RBI are his most since recording 53 in 2017.

Taylor leads the Majors with 21 defensive runs saved, according to _FanGraphs_, and his 14 outs above average are tied for the Majors lead among all outfielders. Taylor leads all center fielders with a career-high 11 outfield assists, which are the most by a Royals center fielder since Melky Cabrera had 13 in 2011.

Taylor, 30, signed with Kansas City last offseason as a free agent, after spending the first seven seasons of his big league career with the Washington Nationals, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of Westminster Academy in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Taylor won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019 and is a career .316 (12-for-38) hitter in 16 postseason games, with four home runs and 10 RBI.