How Much Do the Royals Have to Spend This Offseason?

The Kansas City Royals are one of Major League Baseball's "small-market" teams by most standards. 

The Kansas City metro ranks 34th in Nielsen TV market size, and the Royals also rank 28th in franchise value, according to Forbes' latest rankings. However, it doesn't seem like owner John Sherman, who took over the franchise with his ownership group right before the 2020 season, is using that as an excuse to not "compete". 

Even though they didn't make the postseason this year, the Royals had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2014 and 2015. Furthermore, Sherman has increased the Royals' payroll every year since taking over during the pandemic-affected 2020 season. 

According to Cot's Contracts, the 2025 Royals Opening Day payroll is the highest payroll since 2017, when it was just over $143 million. The Royals haven't committed to whether payroll will continue to grow in 2026. That said, in an October 7th interview with MLB.com Royals beat writer Anne Rogers, Sherman at least acknowledged that they would remain competitive financially this offseason (though they would not be spending like the Los Angeles Dodgers anytime soon).

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Picollo said last week that he and Sherman haven’t talked about a firm number for 2026, but where the Royals are now is “plenty” and that it’s the front office’s responsibility “to make that work.”

When asked whether he agrees, Sherman said the payroll is “in a good spot.” He mentioned the 97-65 Brewers, who are one win away from the National League Championship Series, as sustainable winners with a sustainable payroll (RosterResource has them at $123 million in 2025) – perhaps a model for the Royals.

Thus, with this known, let's take a look at some of the deals coming off the Royals' books from this past season, the players under guaranteed contracts for 2026, and what kind of payroll flexibility Kansas City could have this offseason. 

Players Coming Off the Roster From 2025

Looking at the Royals' Opening Day payroll from a year ago, here are the players who played for the Royals last March and are no longer on the Royals roster (along with their salaries).

• Hunter Renfroe, OF ($7,570,000)
• Michael Lorenzen, RHP ($5,500,000)
• Chris Stratton, RHP ($4,500,000)
• Hunter Harvey, RHP ($3,700,000)
• Cavan Biggio, UT ($2,000,000)
• Mark Canha, OF ($1,400,000)
• Freddy Fermin, C ($781,750)
• Total: $25,451,750

Renfroe, Stratton, Biggio, and Canha were all designated for assignment and released during the season. Fermin was traded away to San Diego in exchange for pitcher Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek. Harvey was on the Royals roster in 2025, but only threw 10.2 IP due to various injuries. He became a free agent this offseason, along with Lorenzen, for whom the Royals declined the mutual option for 2026. 

In addition to Harvey and Lorenzen, the following players on the Royals roster at the end of the season also became free agents. Many of these players were acquired by the Royals midseason. For that financial data, I used the Royals' year-end payroll data from Cot's Contracts. 

• Randal Grichuk, OF ($688,172 for 2025)
• Mike Yastrzemski, OF ($2,934,140)
• Adam Frazier, 2B/OF ($606,720)
• Luke Maile, C ($1,182,796)
• Lorenzen buyout ($1,500,000)
• Grichuk buyout ($3,000,000)
• Total: $11,411,828

Adding both those totals yields $36,863,578. 

Players With Guaranteed Contracts for 2026

The following Royals players will have guaranteed deals for 2026. This only includes what they will make next year and not beyond.

• Bobby Witt Jr., SS ($13,707,071)
• Seth Lugo, RHP ($21,500,000)
• Michael Wacha, RHP ($18,000,000)
• Carlos Estevez, RHP ($10,100,000)
• Cole Ragans, LHP ($4,583,333)
• Total: $49,890,404

The Royals also hold a club option for Salvador Perez for next season. If exercised, that would be $13.5 million. Perez will likely be back in Kansas City for 2026, whether it's on the club option or a new extension. If the Royals exercise Perez's option, that guaranteed contract total increases to $63,390,404.

When adding all projected amounts for arbitration-eligible players (the Royals have 14, as of this moment), the projected 2026 Opening Day payroll will be $119,038,911, according to Cot's Contracts. That's roughly $10 million less than their Opening Day payroll a year ago.

Projecting the Payroll for 2026

The Royals increased their Opening Day payroll by nearly $11 million from 2024 to 2025. It's likely the Royals will do something similar, especially after seeing attendance rise last season. The Royals averaged 21,590 fans last year, a 1,117 increase from 2024. That was the 10th-highest difference in baseball last year, according to Baseball-Reference. 

If the Royals increase, their estimated Opening Day payroll will be around $137 million for 2026. Thus, the Royals have about $19 million available for free agents or transactions, based on that estimated Opening Day payroll amount from Cot's Contracts. Of course, that number could get higher, especially if they non-tender expensive arbitration players like Jonathan India ($7.4 million), James McArthur ($8 million), and Bailey Falter ($3.3 million). 

If GM JJ Picollo can get $20-$25 million to work with this offseason, that could net in some affordable outfield free agents that could help boost the middle of the lineup. That likely would mean acquiring one or two mid-level free agents, such as Mike Yastrzemski, Tommy Pham, and Rob Refsnyder, as I discussed in my post yesterday.

Even though those free agents don't have the star power of an Alex Bregman, they would still improve a lineup that ranked 26th in runs a season ago.