Welcome back to the Royals Beat newsletter! For this edition, MLB.com reporter/producer Paul Casella is filling in for beat reporter Anne Rogers.

Given the number of milestones and records that Bobby Witt Jr. has to his name through just two big league seasons, it's fair to wonder what the Royals superstar has in store for 2024.

But before we try to tackle which records he might topple next, let's take a quick look back at what Witt has accomplished to this point.

Witt burst onto the scene as a rookie, racking up 20 homers and 30 stolen bases in 2022. He was just the second player in AL/NL history with a 20-30 campaign in his debut season -- and he did it all at the age of 22.

Fast forward to last year, and Witt upped his totals to 30 home runs and 49 stolen bases to become the first player in franchise history with a 30-30 season. But it's not just Royals history -- Witt is quickly reaching unprecedented heights across the Majors as a whole.

Witt is the only player in AL/NL history to start his career with consecutive 20-30 seasons. In fact, even without limiting it to a player’s first two seasons, he's in extremely rare territory. Only five other active players have multiple 20-30 seasons at any point in their careers: Mike Trout (three), Ronald Acuña Jr. (two), Jose Altuve (two) and Trea Turner (two). 

But now, consider the totality of what Witt has accomplished through two seasons: 50 home runs and 79 stolen bases.

To put that in perspective, not only is he the only player to reach those totals through two seasons, but only four other players have had 50 homers and 79 stolen bases through their first three seasons. Those four players are Bobby Bonds, Barry Bonds, Trout and Oddibe McDowell.

Even if Witt has just another 20-20 campaign this season, he'll remain in a category of his own. No player has hit 70 homers and stolen even 90 bases through three MLB seasons.

"It's just motivation to just keep getting better each and every year," Witt said after hitting one of his many 2023 milestones. 

So what type of numbers can we expect from Witt in 2024?

"I feel like if you set a goal, then there's no way you can keep going," Witt said last season. "So whatever happens, happens. Just keep going."

Witt may not want to put specific numbers out there, but that certainly won't stop us from having some fun with it. Using the Steamer projection model on FanGraphs, Witt is forecast for 30 homers and 42 stolen bases in 2024. That would bring his career totals to 80 home runs and 121 stolen bases through three big league seasons.

Not only has no player had 80 homers and 120 stolen bases through three seasons, but nobody has ever reached each of those totals in even their first four seasons. In fact, only three players -- Alfonso Soriano, Hanley Ramirez and Andrew McCutchen -- have totaled 80 home runs and 120 steals in their first five MLB seasons.

Needless to say, that’s plenty of motivation for the Royals to try to work out an extension with Witt -- though there’s no deadline for any potential deals at the moment. After all, Witt won’t hit free agency until after the 2027 season … but '24 is his final pre-arbitration year.

That means, starting next offseason, Witt will be due for a raise of some sort, whether it be a new deal or via the arbitration process. So between the potential for arbitration next offseason and the potential for Witt to continue the historic start to his career, it would make sense for possible extension talks to heat up sooner than later.

While Witt is the only player to turn in a 20-30 campaign in each of his first two seasons, who has the most 20-30 seasons in AL/NL history?

A. Barry Bonds
B. Rickey Henderson
C. Bobby Abreu
D. Bobby Bonds

Sticking with the Witt theme, let’s take a look back at some of his most memorable home runs from last season:

May 2: After a slow start in April, Witt began to turn his season around in his first at-bat of May, when he crushed a leadoff home run against the Orioles at Kauffman Stadium.

July 28: Witt had arguably the best game of his young career on this day against the Twins. After an RBI double in the sixth and an RBI single in the eighth, Witt turned around a 101.8 mph fastball from Minnesota flamethrower Jhoan Duran for a walk-off grand slam in the 10th.

Aug. 14: Witt once again showcased his elite speed when he ripped a line drive that Mariners right fielder Dominic Canzone seemingly lost in the lights. The ball rolled all the way to the wall as Witt raced around the bases and launched himself headfirst across home plate for his first career inside-the-park home run.

Aug. 15: One day after his inside-the-parker, Witt powered up for a grand slam into the waterfall in the left-center-field seats at Kauffman Stadium.

Jackson County voters will decide in April whether to extend a stadium sales tax to support construction of a new downtown Royals ballpark and renovations at Arrowhead Stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs. County legislators voted 8-1 on Monday in favor of putting a new 3/8th-cent sales tax on the ballot, which would replace the current tax that supports the county’s leases with the Royals and Chiefs at the Truman Sports Complex. 
 
The vote was a significant step toward a move downtown for the Royals, which has been a goal of majority owner John Sherman and his ownership group since they took over the team in 2019. The Royals’ vision is to build an estimated $2 billion ballpark and surrounding district under a public-private partnership.
 
But plenty of questions and uncertainties remain. Neither the Royals nor Chiefs have new lease agreements with the county, which has been a sticking point for County Executive Frank White, who could veto the ordinance passed Monday. The Royals have not nailed down a precise location for where they would build a new ballpark. Read more from Monday’s news at the courthouse.

Friday is the deadline for clubs and arbitration-eligible players to agree to terms on a contract before exchanging 2024 salary figures.

The Royals have already avoided arbitration with left-handers Kris Bubic ($2.35 million) and Josh Taylor ($1.1 million), but they still have four players who need to settle: right-handers Carlos Hernández, Kyle Wright, Brady Singer and Nick Anderson.

Kansas City settled with seven of its eight arbitration-eligible players last offseason, with only Singer going to an arbitration hearing (which he ultimately lost).

D. Bobby Bonds. Bonds had nine 20-30 seasons from 1969-79, while his son, Barry, had seven such seasons over his 22-year career. No player outside of that father-son duo has had more than four 20-30 seasons.

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