An 82-80 record is nothing to sneeze at in Kansas City, as it represented just the sixth time in the last 31 years that the Royals topped the .500 mark. Still, the Royals took a step back after reaching the playoffs in 2024, and will again be looking to bolster their lackluster offense.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Bobby Witt Jr., SS: $272MM through 2034 (Witt can opt out after each of the final four years of the contract; Royals can trigger $89MM club option for 2035-37 seasons if Witt triggers all player options)
- Seth Lugo, SP: $43MM through 2027 (includes $3MM buyout of $17MM club/vesting option for 2028)
- Michael Wacha, SP: $33MM through 2027 (includes $1MM buyout of $14MM club option for 2028)
- Carlos Estevez, RP: $12MM through 2026 (includes $2M buyout of $13MM club option for 2027)
- Cole Ragans, SP: $12MM through 2027 (Royals hold arbitration control over Ragans for 2028 season)
Option Decisions
- Salvador Perez, C: $13.5MM club option ($2MM buyout)
- Michael Lorenzen, SP: $12MM mutual option ($1.5MM buyout)
- Randal Grichuk, OF: $5MM mutual option ($3MM buyout)
2026 financial commitments (assuming only Perez's option is exercised): $79MM
Total future commitments (assuming only Perez's option is exercised): $385.5MM
Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Taylor Clarke (5.148): $1.9MM
- Kris Bubic (5.135): $6MM
- John Schreiber (5.027): $3.8MM
- Jonathan India (5.000): $7.4MM
- Kyle Wright (4.151): $1.8MM
- Kyle Isbel (4.043): $2.7MM
- Bailey Falter (3.138): $3.3MM
- Daniel Lynch IV (3.136): $1.3MM
- Sam Long (3.121): $950K
- Vinnie Pasquantino (3.101): $5.4MM
- Angel Zerpa (3.082): $1.2MM
- Michael Massey (3.068): $2MM
- MJ Melendez (3.016): $2.65MM
- Maikel Garcia (2.168): $4.8MM
- James McArthur (2.150): $800K
- Non-tender candidates: India, Wright, Falter, Long, Massey, Melendez, McArthur
Free Agents
- Lorenzen, Grichuk, Mike Yastrzemski, Hunter Harvey, Adam Frazier, Luke Maile
The Royals got an early jump on their offseason work when they agreed to a contract extension with Seth Lugo just before the trade deadline. Lugo's previous deal allowed him to opt out of the contract's final year and enter free agency this winter, and the Royals seemed to at least test the trade market just in case an extension couldn't be finalized. As it turned out, the veteran righty will now be staying in K.C. through at least the 2027 campaign, further solidifying the Royals' starting corps.
The rotation was more good than elite this season, as injuries played a role. Lugo himself missed about a month and a half due to back and finger issues, Kris Bubic's All-Star season was ended by a rotator cuff strain in late July, and 2024 All-Star Cole Ragans was limited to 13 starts and 61 2/3 innings due to a rotator cuff strain of his own. The silver lining to these health issues was that Noah Cameron got the opportunity to break into the rotation, as the rookie delivered a 2.99 ERA over his first 138 1/3 frames in the majors.
Better health is obviously no guarantee for 2026, yet assuming the Royals deal with just an average amount of injury misfortune, their rotation looks like one of the more solid on-paper units in baseball. The Royals have fewer questions about their starting pitching than most clubs, due to both a high talent floor and plenty of depth. Mutual options are almost always declined anyway, but Michael Lorenzen probably would've been moving on regardless considering all of the other pitching options on hand.
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Sounds like something with Boston involving Bubic for Duran may make the most sense.
I think it would take more than bubic to get Duran and I don’t think Boston is going to trade Duran. Definitely would not trade David Shields. It was a huge mistake to trade for Jonathan India so I don’t think they’ll be making that kind of mistake again
I know a lot of Pirates fans thought it was outrageous that Bailey Falter could be a non-tender candidate when they traded him to the Royals, but it always felt like waiting for the other shoe to drop when he pitched. Seems like that other shoe finally fell after he was traded to the Royals.
Small sample with KC then an injury. Still should get a MLB contract for a team looking for an effective 5th starter. Too expensive for the Pirates who have lots of young pitchers making league minimum.
Are the Royals still considering a move to Kansas City, Kansas?
No. They are perfect where they are. 22,000 parking places and people can tailgate
Ownership wants downtown KC-MO the most. There has been talk about somewhere up in Clay County, or at the old Sprint Campus in OP. Some chatter about the Legends area too, but everything outside of downtown KC-MO is mainly just smoke-and-mirrors.
They used Kansas to get the ball rolling in Missouri, but still isn’t going anywhere. There were supposed to have named the spot several months ago.
Moving to Kansas would be a more ideal situation, because Kansas wouldn’t require an added tax to draw them in. They have the STAR bond that has enough funds to over what the3/8 tax increase required in MO.
I don’t think Kansas is an option for them though.
They won’t be staying put, that’s about as guaranteed as it gets. But where is becoming a bigger headache for them than I think they thought.
Quite interesting is former Royal Frank White, who was horrible in the booth, was upset the Royals didn’t retain him and pushed hard against the tax increase. Now, he is facing a recall on an unrelated matter.
I know I keep saying tax increase, but in reality, it’s just maintaining the current 3/8 sales tax for when they remodeled.
I don’t think Massey will be non-tendered. MJ Melendez does have options left so they could do either or… Meaning they could non tender him and let him be a free agent and try to sign with another team or they could just keep him in triple A.
They need a backup OF who hits RH and can play a passable CF to platoon with Isbel and be a wildly over qualified 4th OF (Bader? Lane?) Re-signing Yas makes some sense too. Jensen looked the part and Jac’s control of the zone was better after his injury. One or two moves and this team is a force.
Bader is not going to sign for a platoon position.
I know this is over a week since this outlook was posted, but…
Maybe look at a former top prospect, say, Kristian Robinson?
Trade cost should not be too high.
He turns 25 in December. Finished this year in AAA. Put up good numbers.
Just a thought.