The Royals have signed infielder Jonathan India to a one-year, $8MM deal for the upcoming season, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. India, projected for a $7.4MM salary by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, had been widely viewed as a non-tender candidate on the heels of a poor first season in Kansas City, but he’ll return and hope to rebound in 2026. He’ll be a free agent next offseason.
India, 29 next month, posted career-worst marks in most categories during his first season as a Royal. The former NL Rookie of the Year was traded to Kansas City alongside Joey Wiemer in a deal that sent right-hander Brady Singer back to Cincinnati. India’s .233 batting average, .323 on-base percentage, .346 slugging percentage, nine home runs and zero stolen bases (in four attempts were all career-low marks — despite the fact that his 136 games played and 567 plate appearances were both the third-highest totals he’d tallied in five seasons.
Despite those downturns, India posted better-than-average walk, strikeout and contact rates. His 18.7% strikeout rate was the lowest of his career. Unfortunately, he also popped up at the highest rate of his career, hit line-drives at the lowest rate of his career, and continued to post sub-par exit velocity and hard-hit marks.
The move to Kansas City and the spacious Kauffmann Stadium always seemed like a dubious fit for the former first-round pick. India hit .266/.364/.444 at the hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park during his four years as a Red, compared to just .241/.341/.381 on the road. He hit 54% of his home runs at GABP despite the fact that only 48% of his plate appearances in that time came at home. India homered roughly once every 32 plate appearances at home compared to once every 39 on the road. Statcast ranks GABP as the second most homer-friendly park in the game for right-handed hitters; Kauffman Stadium is 19th.
Kansas City also gave India his first major league experience at positions other than second base, with 146 innings in left field and 149 at third base. (He’d played third base in college and in the minors.) Neither experiment went well. Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved panned his glovework at both spots and at his customary second base, where he’s never graded as even an average defender.
There’s clearly a track record of better results with India, who entered 2025 as a career .253/.352/.413 hitter. A disproportionate amount of his career production, however, came in a rookie season that now looks like an outlier. India was a deserving Rookie of the Year in ’21 when he hit .269/.376/.459 with 21 homers and 34 doubles in 651 plate appearances. But from 2022-24, that production slipped to .247/.343/.393 with 42 homers in 1597 plate appearances.
The Royals are betting on that track record and hoping that he can at least return to his 2023-24 form. There aren’t many positive trend lines on which to base that hope, when looking at his 2025 season, but the Royals believed in India enough to trade a solid mid-rotation starter and apparently haven’t soured on him after the poor season.
India’s return locks him in at second base and/or left field. Maikel Garcia has seized third base as his long-term home with a terrific 2025 breakout showing. Which of those positions India plays more regularly hinges on the remainder of the Royals’ offseason moves. They’ll be in the market for offensive upgrades both via free agency and trade, but keeping India around means they’ll have even fewer resources available to pursue that goal. The Royals’ projected $143MM payroll (per RosterResource) is already higher than last year’s mark.
Royals just wasted 8M dollars. JJ Piccolo just couldn’t admit that he lost the Singer trade.
Well he definitely lost year one of the trade but I think his hands are tied, there’s not much out there or internally in his MI that’ll help improve the team. If he lets India go and he reverts to normal after having given up so much in Singer, he’d be a double boob. India had good obp skills, I think they’ll return. If not it’s only money.
Wasn’t he projected at like $7.4M?
I can’t believe after the season he just had that they didn’t cut his salary. In other words offered him like a $4 million dollar contract and tell him if he didn’t take it they cut him.
There needs to be more GMs that take this approach. No way he gets much above league minimum on the open market. Might have only gotten a minor league contract offer had he hit free agency.
Can’t cut non-FAs more than 20% I think, so it wouldn’t happen that way.
NYY in LA I thought the same but he earned 5MM last year. So technically this situation may have worked out. Surprising to see such a raise for this season though.
And every Royals fan screams… NO!!!
One of the more interesting cases this season.
I figured he’d be either traded or non-tendered.
He still could be traded.
But the Royals might have to eat some money if they do. Bizarre move.
What a waste of money
He’s NOT good defensively at 2B. He doesn’t like playing LF and is not good there either. He could be a DH, but doesn’t hit enough for that to make sense. What is KC doing here besides blowing money they could use for somebody else?
Wow. Name value still carries a lot of weight. He’s a borderline bench bat.
He must still have a paneer of talent.
i see what you did there. good work!
He hasn’t been worth a damn since his Rookie of the Year season, which must have been a fluke. This guy just does not pass the eye test for me. Supposedly good in the clubhouse though. (When you don’t hit for power, can’t walk, can’t defend , and can barely hit singles, what can you do my man?)
They still believe in his potential?
He’s got all the financial incentive to perform his way into a good few year FA deal somewhere. That could be KC’s angle. Happens a lot.
It’s when one gets paid the same guaranteed amount on a fixed contract year to year regardless of performance that one should be concerned since it goes against human nature for incentives.
They better fix their outfield woes now for sure.
WOW! I’m so suprised. This is too much for Jonathan India.
The First Law of Holes.
You are a complete disgrace JJ. What a waste for a small market club
Sunk Cost Fallacy in full effect here.
I hope this works out for the Royals but it seems to me more a decision motivated by fear or stubborn pride than reason.