2026-27 Club Options: AL Central
Last week, MLBTR began a division by division series looking at the club/mutual option decisions facing every team in the American League East. We’ll continue with a move to the AL Central. There aren’t a ton of notable decisions in this division, but the Tigers will have a couple — one involving their likely Hall of Fame closer.
Chicago White Sox
- Austin Hays, OF: $8MM mutual option ($1MM buyout)
Hays signed a $6MM free agent guarantee with the White Sox over the offseason. He’s making a $5MM salary and will collect a $1MM buyout on an $8MM mutual option for 2027. That’s an accounting measure designed to delay paying the final million until the end of the season. This is essentially a one-year deal.
The righty-swinging Hays has worked mostly in a platoon capacity over the past few seasons. He signed with Chicago largely because he felt they offered the best path to everyday playing time. Hays started slowly, striking out 12 times in his first nine games. He landed on the injured list with a strained right hamstring and missed three weeks.
The Sox activated him on Monday but have turned left field over to rookie Sam Antonacci in the interim. With Everson Pereira out to a nice start in the opposite corner, Hays is probably back in a fourth outfield role.
Cleveland Guardians
- Shawn Armstrong, RHP: $8MM mutual option ($1.5MM buyout)
Cleveland reunited with Armstrong on a one-year, $5.5MM contract in free agency. The veteran reliever is making $4MM this year and guaranteed a $1.5MM buyout on an $8MM mutual option.
The Guardians are likely to decline their end even if Armstrong pitches up to expectations. He’ll be entering his age-36 season and doesn’t have the power arsenal that usually pays in free agency. Armstrong’s fastball sits around 93 mph and he has never had huge swinging strike rates. He’s more of a command-oriented reliever, though he has walked seven batters over his first 10 2/3 frames this season.
Armstrong has had a tougher time getting hitters to expand the strike zone, leading to the uptick in free passes. He has given up five runs but has fanned 13 of 47 batters faced. He has three holds while working in mostly medium leverage situations. Armstrong landed on the injured list on Monday with a right groin strain.
- Emmanuel Clase, RHP: $10MM club option ($2MM buyout)
Clase is on unpaid non-administrative leave pending the investigation into an alleged game-fixing scheme. He’s not making his $6MM salary this year, nor does it seem likely he’ll collect the $2MM option buyout.
- Trevor Stephan, RHP: $7.25MM club option ($1.25MM buyout)
Stephan’s career has unfortunately gone off the rails since he underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2024. His velocity was down three miles per hour when he returned, and Triple-A hitters teed off for 22 runs in 17 innings last year. Cleveland dropped Stephan from their 40-man roster in August. He made four appearances this spring but was working with even lesser velocity than he had last summer, sitting at just 90.7 mph after throwing 95-96 early during his early-career days as a setup arm. The Guardians haven’t assigned him to a minor league affiliate. This is an easy buyout.
Detroit Tigers
- Drew Anderson: $10MM club option (no buyout)
Detroit brought Anderson back to the organization after a season and a half in Korea. The right-hander was second among KBO pitchers with 245 strikeouts a year ago, partially because he added a “kick-changeup” he hadn’t fully trusted during his last stint in affiliated ball. The Tigers guaranteed him $7MM with a $10MM club option.
The righty was initially expected to compete for a rotation spot. That changed after the Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander signings. Anderson began the season in long relief. It has been an erratic start, as he has allowed 11 runs through his first 15 innings. Anderson has recorded 17 strikeouts but has walked eight batters and surrendered three home runs. Detroit opted to give Keider Montero a rotation spot when Verlander went down with a hip injury.
There’s still a chance for Anderson to make some starts throughout the season. He’ll at least provide some swing-and-miss upside to a bullpen that lacks that element. It’s too early to have a definitive call on the option, but the early showing points toward it being declined.
- Kenley Jansen: $12MM club option ($2MM buyout)
Coming off a quietly excellent season with the Angels, Jansen signed for $11MM with Detroit. He’s making $9MM this season and has a $2MM buyout on a $12MM team option, making it a $10MM call for the front office. That’s a reasonable enough sum that the Tigers would probably exercise it with a typical Jansen year.
The four-time All-Star is 6-8 in save opportunities so far. Seven of his nine appearances have been scoreless. Detroit has taken the loss in the other two — both of which came on go-ahead home runs (to Jose Fernandez and Nathaniel Lowe, respectively). Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris pointed to the still strong swing-and-miss numbers on Jansen’s cutter at the time of the signing. He’s missing bats at the same rate as he did last year and has the second-highest strikeout rate (28.1%) in the Detroit bullpen. If the home runs turn out to a blip, this should get picked up.
Kansas City Royals
- Carlos Estévez, RHP: $13MM club option ($2MM buyout)
The first season of Estévez’s two-year, $22MM free agent deal with Kansas City was a success. He led MLB with 42 saves while matching his career low with a 2.45 ERA across 66 innings. Estévez’s personal-low 20.1% strikeout rate and 8.2% swinging strike mark were red flags, but he entered this spring with a clear hold on the closer role.
Estévez hasn’t looked the same in 2026. His velocity was way down both during Spring Training and in the World Baseball Classic. The Royals expressed some optimism that’d come with more adrenaline during regular season play. It didn’t happen during his debut, as the two-time All-Star’s fastball averaged just 91.2 mph after sitting around 96 a year ago. His slider and changeup also had precipitous drops. Estévez retired just one of seven batters in a meltdown loss to the Braves that culminated in a Dominic Smith walk-off grand slam.
After the game, the Royals placed Estévez on the injured list with a left foot contusion. He sustained that injury during the March 28 appearance against Atlanta, as he took a Michael Harris II comebacker off his foot. That doesn’t explain why the stuff was so poor during camp, though it has given the Royals a month and counting to hopefully get him right.
Coming into the year, the Royals probably anticipated exercising this option. That’s much tougher to see unless they find some kind of mechanical tweak that gets him back into the mid-90s.
Minnesota Twins
- Josh Bell, 1B: $10MM mutual option ($1.25MM buyout)
Minnesota signed Bell to a $7MM free agent guarantee over the winter. That includes a $1.25MM buyout on a $10MM mutual option. Bell’s first month in the Twin Cities has been a microcosm of his last few years. He came out on fire, hitting .317 with three home runs through his first 13 games. He’s hitting .180 with just one extra-base hit (a double) over his past 16 outings. The end result is a league average .235/.331/.373 line through his first 118 plate appearances. Each Bell season has big highs and very tough lows, though they all tend to conclude with slightly above-average offensive production overall.
Bell is a low-end regular at this stage of his career. The Twins — or a potential taker at the trade deadline — are likely to pass on their end of the option. If he does get traded, Minnesota might need to cover a portion of the buyout, as he’d otherwise cost an accruing team nearly $3MM for the final two months of the season.
- Justin Topa, RHP: $5MM mutual option ($250K buyout)
Topa and the Twins built a $5MM mutual option into his agreement to avoid arbitration last November. He has played on salaries just above $1MM throughout his arbitration window. Topa gets ground-balls but has the American League’s lowest swinging strike rate (3.8%) and has battled injuries throughout his career. The Twins are likely to pass on their end.
Joe Ryan’s arbitration deal includes a $13MM mutual option ($100K buyout) for 2027. He’d remain under club control if the option is declined and won’t hit free agency until the 2027-28 offseason.
Jonathan India Undergoes Season-Ending Labrum Surgery
The Royals announced that second baseman Jonathan India underwent a labrum repair on his left shoulder today. He’ll miss the rest of the season.
India’s second season in Kansas City ends after 17 games. He batted .167 with a pair of home runs while reaching base at a .310 clip. There’s a decent chance this will make an unfortunate end to India’s tenure with the Royals. Acquired from the Reds over the 2024-25 offseason for Brady Singer, he had a disappointing .233/.323/.346 line a season ago.
It’s the continuation of a downward trend for the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year. The former fifth overall pick broke into the majors with a .269/.376/.459 line and 21 home runs. His offensive numbers dropped to league average over the next three seasons as he began battling injuries. India missed time in 2022 with a hamstring strain and dealt with plantar fasciitis in ’23. He played a career-high 151 games during his final season as a Red, hitting .248/.357/.392 with 15 longballs.
Kansas City acquired India in the hope that he’d be a high-OBP presence in front of Bobby Witt Jr. atop the lineup. They also tried to move the career-long second baseman to a utility role. Neither goal worked as intended, as India struggled to get comfortable in left field or at third base. The Royals moved him back to second base full time last May. He also didn’t hit much and dropped to the bottom third of the order in August.
India hasn’t been playing at full strength for much of that time. He first injured his left shoulder diving for a ground-ball last June. He played through the injury in the second half and for the first few weeks of this season before going on the injured list on April 20. It evidently reached a point where he could no longer avoid surgery.
The Royals tendered India an $8MM arbitration contract over the offseason. It was an odd move even at the time, especially if they had any indication the shoulder might remain a problem going into 2026. Their hope for a rebound didn’t pan out and they’re left with an underwhelming second base outlook.
Michael Massey will be the primary second baseman for the time being. He has some power and was a league average hitter back in 2024. Massey battled injury and didn’t hit last season (.244/.268/.313 through 277 PAs). The lefty hitter has a homer and five doubles in 47 plate appearances this year, but he has only walked twice while striking out 11 times.
Righty-hitting Nick Loftin, a career .223/.301/.328 hitter, is K.C.’s primary alternative to Massey. Kevin Newman, Josh Rojas and Abraham Toro are all in the organization on minor league contracts. None of them has topped a .716 OPS against Triple-A pitching.
It’d be an obvious area for the Royals to address if they’re in position to add at the trade deadline. Their 11-17 start isn’t encouraging in that regard, but they’ve rebounded from an eight-game losing skid to win four of their last five. The entire AL Central has played average or worse ball to this point, so it’s much too soon to write the Royals off. Luis Arraez and Brandon Lowe are impending free agents whose potential trade candidacies in July hinge on the respective performances of the Giants and Pirates. Gleyber Torres is also in his walk year, though it’d take an unexpected Tigers collapse for them to trade him to a division opponent.
India will be a first-time free agent next winter. He’s either looking at a minor league contract or an incentive-laden, one-year MLB deal. The Royals will move him to the 60-day injured list whenever they need to open a 40-man roster spot.
Royals Sign Anthony Gose To Minor League Deal
The Royals signed left-handed reliever Anthony Gose to a minor league deal, per a club announcement. The CAA client has been assigned to Triple-A Omaha for the time being.
Gose, 35, was a two-way star as an amateur but drafted by the Phillies as an outfielder in the second round back in 2008. He spent years as a top-100 prospect in that role, eventually debuting with the 2012 Blue Jays after being traded to Toronto. He played parts of five season as an outfielder between Toronto and Detroit but managed only a .240/.309/.348 slash in 1252 big league plate appearances.
In 2017, Gose returned to the mound, beginning a transition back to a pitcher after his outfield career had begun to sputter. He’s pitched in the minors with Detroit, Texas, Cleveland, Arizona and New York (Mets), but the Guardians are the lone club to have brought him to the majors as a pitcher — which they’ve done in three seasons (2021, 2022, 2024).
Gose has pitched a total of 32 major league frames, showing huge velocity and bat-missing ability but shaky command. In his limited MLB work on the mound, he’s posted a 4.78 ERA, fanned 29.7% of his opponents and issued walks at a 12.3% clip. Gose reached the majors as a reliever in 2021, brandishing a fastball that averaged a blistering 99.3 mph. He was down to a 97 mph average the following season and wound up requiring Tommy John surgery in Sept. 2022. He returned to the majors with the Guards in 2024 but was tagged for five runs in 4 1/3 innings with a heater that sat 95.7 mph.
Gose split the 2025 season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Mets and D-backs. His average fastball dipped below 95 mph with New York’s Syracuse affiliate, but he added velo as the season went on and finished out the year sitting 95.9 mph with Arizona’s Reno club. Results-wise, he pitched 37 innings with a 4.62 ERA, a 24.3% strikeout rate and a 13.6% walk rate.
This past offseason, Gose signed with los Leones de Yucatán in the Mexican League. He opened the ’26 season with 5 2/3 innings of shutout relief, allowing only one hit and no walks. He punched out a ridiculous 12 of the 17 batters he faced. That understandably caught the attention of a Royals club that currently ranks 29th in bullpen ERA, with a collective 5.75 mark that leads only the Astros. Gose won’t jump right into the big league ranks, but with a nice showing in Triple-A and/or persistent struggles among Kansas City’s major league relief corps, it’s feasible he could get a look before long.
Can Any Expected Contenders Escape The Early Holes They’ve Dug?
It's commonplace for at least one postseason hopeful to run into unexpected struggles early in the season. In the past, we've seen World Series aspirants and Wild Card hopefuls alike shoot themselves in the foot with sloppy April sequences that jeopardize their visions of October baseball. In some instances -- the 2022 Phillies, the 2024 Mets and, most notably, the 2019 Nationals -- teams are able to rally and make good on those playoff goals. For those 2019 Nats, they went so far as to win the whole thing. Nary a baseball fan in D.C. will ever forget the significance of the 19-31 record they faced roughly one-third of the way through the season.
More commonly, however, a disappointing April can prove to be a backbreaker. Fans need only look as far back as the 2025 Orioles to see a would-be contender whose awful early performance sunk their season before it ever had a chance to get going in earnest. The Orioles wrapped up April with a 12-18 record. By the midway mark of May, they were 15-27 -- buried by nine and a half games in the American League East and with their postseason hopes all but dashed.
There have been plenty of oddities so far in the 2026 season. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery are the first pair of teammates in MLB history with active streaks of homers in four or more consecutive games. (Oh, and Miguel Vargas has gone deep in three straight.) We're about one-sixth of the way through the season and Mason Miller has fanned a superhuman 71% of his opponents through 11 1/3 innings. Tigers phenom Kevin McGonigle, who skipped Triple-A entirely and broke camp as a 21-year-old, ranks fourth in the majors in Baseball-Reference WAR or fifth in FanGraphs WAR, if you prefer.
But the strangest development of the 2026 doesn't focus on any one player's individual efforts. To see the most bizarre facet of the season's first month requires a step back and a more macro look at the league as a whole.
Entering play Thursday, the four worst teams in baseball weren't the Rockies, Nationals, Twins or any other widely expected cellar dweller. Instead, the bottom-four records belong to the Royals, Phillies, Mets and Red Sox -- four clubs that entered the season with clear designs on contending. Fifth-worst are the White Sox -- not terribly surprising -- followed by the sixth-worst Astros. One game up in the standings are the Blue Jays and Mariners, last year's ALCS opponents.
In any given year, seeing one or two of these clubs faceplant out of the gate wouldn't be all that remarkable. Teams fall short of expectations all the time -- often well short. But to see seven clubs who entered 2026 as win-now teams populate bottom-10 spots in the leaguewide standings with more than four weeks of the season in the books is fairly incredible.
Is the season lost for any of these clubs? Not quite yet, but the margin for error has all but eroded. For most of these clubs -- especially the bottom four -- it's going to take something close to .600 ball the rest of the way to end up in contention. Let's take a look at this year's most disappointing clubs at the season's one-month mark to see if there's a chance of a rebound and, if not, who they might have to begrudgingly listen on at this year's Aug. 3 trade deadline.
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Royals Release Plans For New Stadium
The Royals announced plans for a new ballpark in downtown Kansas City, specifically in the Crown Center neighborhood. A joint venture with Hallmark Cards, the project will also featured mixed-use elements, including new headquarters for both the club and the company. It is expected to cost about $3 billion in total with the stadium itself accounting for about two thirds of that. It will be funded with a mix of private and public sources. Kacen Bayless and Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star and Dave Skretta of the Associated Press were among those to provide further details.
John Sherman purchased the Royals in 2019 and has been focused on getting funding for a new stadium for much of the interim. Kauffman Stadium opened in 1973 and is one of the five oldest ballparks in the league, with only Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium being older.
The path to a new stadium hit a setback a few years ago. The Royals and the NFL’s Chiefs were hoping to get public funding for new stadiums from Jackson County, where Kansas City, Missouri is located. However, voters rejected a sales tax measure in April of 2024. That seemingly played a part in the Chiefs leaving the state, as they plan to play in Kansas City, Kansas starting in 2031.
Unlike the Chiefs, the Royals are going to stay in Missouri. It’s still not clear if Jackson County will provide any of the funding but the project has money coming from other sources. The Royals announced that they would be the primary funders, with over $2 billion in private funding in total. The state of Missouri and the city of Kansas City are also providing some. Missouri passed a law last year which allows the state to fund up to 50% of major stadium construction projects. Last week, the city passed an ordinance authorizing the city manager to negotiate a deal with the Royals worth up to $600MM.
Some details are still not clear. The specific timing of the planned moved hasn’t been announced. The team’s lease at Kauffman runs through 2031, so they have time in that regard. As mentioned, it’s unclear if Jackson County will provide any funds. The exact amount contributed by the state of Missouri hasn’t been reported. Kansas City council still has to give final approval and it’s possible the council could push for a public vote.
“We are so far away from a done deal,” councilman Johnathan Duncan said to the Star this week. “We still need a development agreement. We need a TIF (tax increment financing) plan. We need a CID. And we need some type of actual plan from the Royals that says this is what we’re going to be using the $600 million of bonds for.”
A formal club announcement doesn’t necessarily mean everything will proceed as planned. For instance, the Rays previously announced plans for a new stadium in St. Petersburg on the same site as Tropicana Field. But hurricane damage to the Trop led to fighting about repairs and ultimately squashed the deal. That’s a rare example and it’s unlikely something like that will happen in Kansas City but it illustrates that they still have to dot some i’s and cross some t’s.
Photo courtesy of William Purnell, Imagn Images
MLBTR Podcast: Kevin McGonigle, The Padres’ Franchise Valuation, And Edwin Díaz To Miss Time
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Tigers signing Kevin McGonigle to an eight-year extension (1:30)
- José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones reportedly having an agreement in place to buy the Padres (13:10)
- Dodgers right-hander Edwin Díaz requiring elbow surgery (27:20)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Are the Braves for real? And what do they do once their injured guys get healthy? (32:20)
- If a salary cap is theoretically implemented, how would it work with the teams currently over the cap? (40:50)
- Can Michael Wacha of the Royals keep up his dominance? (45:50)
- What are the Reds going to do with Matt McLain and TJ Friedl? (48:15)
- Can the Nationals keep up this level of offense? And if so, should they have invested more in this year’s pitching staff? (52:10)
Check out our past episodes!
- Lenyn Sosa Traded, And Injury Concerns For The Astros, Cubs And Orioles – listen here
- Previewing The 2026-27 Free-Agent Class – listen here
- Lots Of Extensions And Big-Picture Topics – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
Royals Place Jonathan India On IL With Shoulder Subluxation
The Royals announced that infielder Jonathan India has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 19th, due to a left shoulder subluxation. Infielder/outfielder Nick Loftin has been recalled as the corresponding move.
Per Anne Rogers of MLB.com, this is the same shoulder injury that India has battled in the past. On June 13th of 2025, he dove for a ground ball and clearly hurt himself, as seen in this clip from MLB.com. He suffered a subluxation at that time. He didn’t go on the IL for that shoulder but did occasionally miss time for the rest of the year.
India had a subpar season, though it doesn’t seem as though the shoulder injury explains the whole thing. He had a .249/.332/.336 line and 89 wRC+ through that June 13th game, followed by a .219/.315/.355 line and 89 wRC+ after it. He did have an IL stint in that latter section, but it was due to a left wrist sprain. He is out to a rough .167/.310/.313 start so far in 2026.
Whether it’s due to the injuries or not, the Royals surely hoped for more when they acquired India from the Reds ahead of the 2025 season. He slashed .253/.352/.412 with Cincinnati from 2021 to 2024, production which translated to a wRC+ of 108. After his rough 2025, he became a speculative non-tender candidate, but the Royals brought him back by signing him to an $8MM deal for this year.
So far, that investment hasn’t paid off. Ideally, India can get healthy and get back on track, though the next steps are unclear at this point. Per Rogers, India received an injection and will be seeing another doctor this week.
With India out of commission, the Royals will likely use some combination of Michael Massey and Loftin to cover second base. Massey started the season on the IL due to a calf strain and has hit .174/.208/.261 since coming back. That’s in a tiny sample of 24 plate appearances but he also hit .244/.268/.313 for a 57 wRC+ last year, so he hasn’t been in good form for quite a while. Loftin has 438 career plate appearances with a .220/.296/.323 line and 73 wRC+.
The Royals are out to a 7-15 start, tied with the Mets for the worst record in baseball. The team has a combined .218/.296/.339 batting line and 79 wRC+, which places them ahead of only the Reds among big league clubs. Though India has been struggling, it doesn’t appear that subtracting him from the lineup is likely to help matters.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
Royals Recall Mason Black
Right-hander Mason Black is set for his Royals debut on Sunday. He’ll be joined by catcher Elias Diaz, who had his contract selected by the club. Right-hander Mitch Spence and infielder Tyler Tolbert were optioned to make room for Black and Diaz, the team announced. Right-hander James McArthur was moved to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man spot for Diaz.
Kansas City acquired Black from the Giants for right-hander Logan Martin in November. Black had some fanfare when he first came up with San Francisco in 2024, but he failed to provide consistent results. The righty finished his Giants tenure with a 6.47 ERA in 10 games over the past two seasons.
The 26-year-old Black was almost exclusively used as a starter in San Francisco, but he’s moved to a relief role with Kansas City. He has a 3.86 ERA over seven appearances at Triple-A this year. Black locked down the first two saves of his professional career with Omaha. Despite the full-time move to the bullpen, Black has just a 12.5% strikeout rate so far. Often, those numbers improve when starters make the change to relief work, as their stuff usually plays up in shorter outings.
Spence joined the organization in February following a trade from the Athletics. He didn’t break camp with the team, but came up in early April when right-hander Luinder Avila was sent down. Spence was tagged for six earned runs across four innings in mop-up duty against the Yankees on Saturday. He’ll head back to Triple-A after just the one big-league appearance.
Tolbert made the team out of camp, beating out Drew Waters for a roster spot. Michael Massey‘s calf strain in MLB Spring Training helped Tolbert and Nick Loftin earn roster spots. Loftin was sent down when Massey returned. Now, it’s Tolbert’s turn. He appeared in eight games with the Royals, with the majority of his work coming as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. Tolbert managed a hit in five plate appearances.
McArthur missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing elbow surgery. He opened the 2026 campaign on the 15-day IL due to elbow inflammation. His return timeline is uncertain. The righty was a key member of Kansas City’s late-inning group when he last pitched, recording 18 saves in 2024.
Photo courtesy of Scott Sewell, Imagn Images
Royals To Select Contract Of Elias Díaz
The Royals are planning to call up catcher Elias Díaz from Triple-A, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. The ACES client is not on the 40-man roster, so corresponding moves will be needed.
Díaz, 35, signed a minor-league deal with Kansas City in late February and was invited to big-league Spring Training. While he batted .533/.533/.800 in six games there, he was mostly signed for depth given the presence of Salvador Perez and Carter Jensen. Starting the year at the Royals’ top affiliate, Díaz has so far batted .226/.294/.258 in 34 plate appearances. That’s admittedly a small sample, but it’s still pretty weak production even for the light-hitting veteran.
Instead, Díaz’s promotion could be about giving Perez a chance to rest and reset. Now in his age-36 season, the Royals’ captain has gotten out to a brutal start at the plate. In 81 PA across his first 20 games, Perez has batted just .160/.210/.307, which amounts to a meager 36 wRC+. His walk rate has mostly held constant from 2025, while his 21.0% strikeout rate is only a slight increase. Instead, Perez’s downturn has resulted from a drop in power as well as poor batted-ball luck. He posted a .209 isolated slugging percentage last year, but that has fallen to .147 so far in 2026. Of greater note is that Perez is batting just .161 on balls in play, which would easily be the worst mark of his career.
A look at Perez’s batted ball metrics offer some explanation. His average exit velocity has declined to 89.0 MPH, continuing a year-over-year decline since the 2024 season. Meanwhile, his soft and hard contact percentages have both trended in the wrong direction by about 7%. Obviously, it’s hard to draw conclusions from only 20 games’ worth of data, but the bottom line is that Perez has been a liability in the Royals’ offense to start the year. That led manager Matt Quatraro to give Perez a “mental breather” against the Yankees today by withholding him from the starting lineup (link via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). Perez ultimately did not play in the game, which the Royals lost 13-4.
The fact that the Royals are bringing up Díaz despite his own lack of offense could signal a few more days off for Perez. In that scenario, the Royals would turn to Jensen as the starting catcher, with Díaz as the temporary backup. Jensen has a 97 wRC+ in 19 games as a DH and backup catcher to Perez. That’s a step down from the 159 wRC+ he posted last year, although that was also in a small sample of 69 PA. Nonetheless, Jensen has continued to hit for power, and his overall output is roughly average for catchers, so it makes sense to give him more playing time for now.
Meanwhile, Díaz joins the big-league club as a defensive backup. He was valued at -15 Defensive Runs Saved in 2022 for the Rockies, followed by -16 DRS in 2023. He’s mostly turned it around since then. Statcast gave him plus marks for his caught stealing rate, framing, and pop time in 2024, while his blocking graded out in the 61st percentile in 2025. Díaz hits from the right side, while Jensen hits from the left. Díaz has hit about the same against lefties and righties in his career, but he did better against righties in 2025. Jensen also hits righties better, so it’s unlikely the two will be used in a platoon arrangement. More likely is that Jensen starts every day while Díaz acts as a bench option until Perez is back in the lineup.
Corresponding moves for Díaz have not been announced. Outfielder Isaac Collins is currently day to day with a right knee contusion, according to the Royals’ injury report. He went through a full pregame workout yesterday, so he seems likely to avoid the injured list. On the pitching side, Mitch Spence threw 84 pitches in a four-inning relief appearance today. He could be sent down for active roster space, leaving the club with 12 pitchers rather than 13 in the short term. Clearing room on the 40-man roster would require one of the club’s injured players to be transferred to the 60-day IL, or someone else to be designated for assignment.
Photo courtesy of David Frerker, Imagn Images
Kansas City Officials Propose Royals’ Stadium Plan
The Royals have spent a few years trying to secure public funding towards a new stadium. Those efforts seem closer to reality. Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas announced this afternoon that his office has proposed an ordinance towards a $1.9 billion investment plan for a new stadium and surrounding infrastructure in the Washington Square Park area in downtown Kansas City. Sam McDowell and Kacen Bayless of The Kansas City Star first reported the news in a column which those in the area will want to read in full.
The proposal would authorize roughly $600MM in city funding towards the project. That’s independent of whatever money would come from the state. Last summer, Missouri passed a law that allows the state to fund up to 50% of major stadium construction projects.
That was geared not only towards the Royals but also the NFL’s Chiefs, who have sought a move out of Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs ultimately found what they consider a better deal with Kansas lawmakers. They announced in December they’ll proceed with plans to move over the state border in 2031 on a $3 billion domed stadium in Kansas City, Kansas.
Today’s news makes it seem there’s a decent chance the Royals will remain in Kansas City, Missouri. However, this is not any kind of binding arrangement. It’d still need approval from the City Council, to say nothing of an agreement from the Royals themselves.
The idea would be for the Royals to commit to a 30-year lease beginning in 2030. The team’s lease at Kauffman Stadium runs through 2030, but the mayor’s office evidently hopes to have the new stadium ready for play a year in advance. He told reporters this evening the hope is for construction to begin early in 2027.
The team has not formally weighed in on the terms. Owner John Sherman has generally voiced support for a downtown ballpark. The mayor tells The K.C. Star that this proposal was the result of “hours and hours of extensive discussion” with the team. Even if the Royals are on board with the city’s plans, the state’s contributions would still need to be sorted out. Notably, this proposal does not include plans for a public vote. In April 2024, Jackson County voters shot down a sales tax measure to fund Royals/Chiefs stadium projects via referendum.
The Royals have played at Kauffman Stadium since 1973. It’s the fifth-oldest active venue in MLB behind Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Dodger Stadium, and Angel Stadium.