Key Rangers pitcher leaves to sign with different AL team

Will Smith is taking his quest to win a fourth straight World Series title to [checks notes] … Kansas City.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reports Sunday that the veteran reliever Smith is leaving the Texas Rangers to sign with the Royals. Smith will be getting a one-year contract worth $5 million with the potential for another $1 million in incentives.

This is a reunion for the 34-year-old Smith who played the first two years of his MLB career in Kansas City from 2012-13. He is a much more decorated pitcher these days though, making an All-Star team in 2019 and winning three consecutive World Series championships and counting (with the Atlanta Braves in 2021, the Houston Astros in 2022, and the Rangers in 2023). Last season in Texas, Smith was the primary closer, recording 22 saves in 27 opportunities.

The lefty Smith will obviously have a much harder time making it a four-peat with the Royals, who lost 106 games last season. But Smith has enough hardware at this point (as well as Internet fame) and has decided to go back to where it all began.