Kevin O'Brien

Mitchell was rated No. 1, and yes, a broken hamate bone kinda put him behind, especially in the power department. I think Mitchell, as long as he stays healthy, can bounce back a bit in 2026 and he's shown some good progress in the AFL this year (though he's still striking out a bunch).

On Monday, MLB.com Royals writer Anne Rogers reported via her sources that the Royals would be filling out their hitting coaching staff by hiring Marcus Thames, who recently was the hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox. As Rogers pointed out on Bluesky, Thames has coaching experience with multiple MLB teams and has held the title of hitting coach with the Yankees, Marlins, Angels, and White Sox. Thames is a former MLB player who played in 640 games with the Tigers, Yankees, Rangers, and Dodgers from 2002 to 2011. He has hit 115 career home runs and has a career batting average of .246. Last season, Chicago struggled offensively under Thames, ranking 27th in OBP and runs scored, and 28th in OPS. However, the White Sox saw the growth of some young hitters under Thames' tutelage, including top prospect Colson Montgomery, who hit 21 home runs and posted an .840 OPS, Kyle Teel, who hit eight home runs and posted a .786 OPS, and Miguel Vargas, who hit 16 home runs and posted a .717 OPS. Thames will join Connor Dawson on the staff, who comes over from the Brewers organization. Dawson is a KC native who attended Olathe North High School and coached at St. Thomas Aquinas High School before matriculating to the Mariners organization and then the Brewers in 2021. Alec Zumwalt remains the Royals' lead hitting coach for 2026. Photo Credit: © Matt Marton-Imagn Images View full rumor

Really interesting piece by Jake. The tax avoidance part was intriguing, and as he mentioned, it's going to be hard to convince big teams like the Yankees and Dodgers to walk away and/or modify such big loopholes. The meritocracy part is intriguing from a Royals perspective, as Sherman is trying to build his teams like the Brewers and Guardians rather than the White Sox and Rockies. I think giving revenue based on merit will help keep push the Royals to continue to invest in their team, which wasn't always the case under previous Royals owner David Glass.

According to the Royals' official transaction sheet, left-handed reliever Sam Long was removed from the 40-man roster and outrighted to Triple-A Omaha on November 6th. It is unclear whether Long will remain in the Royals' organization with this latest move. However, to pitch for the Royals again in 2026, he would need to be added to the 40-man roster again at some point. Signed as a Minor League free agent in the spring of 2024, Long made the Royals roster and ended up being a key piece of the Royals bullpen during their 86-76 season. In his first season in Kansas City, he posted a 3.16 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 3.89 FIP, and 2.59 K/BB ratio in 43 appearances and 42.2 IP. The Sacramento State product was a key left-handed reliever for manager Matt Quatraro, especially in high-leverage situations. Unfortunately, Long battled injuries and ineffectiveness in 2025. Over 39 appearances and 40.1 IP, the 30-year-old lefty posted a 5.36 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 5.54 WHIP, and 1.50 K/BB ratio. Long struck out fewer batters (7.5% decrease in K rate), walked more (1.9% increase in BB rate), gave up more hard-hits (9.1% increase in hard-hit rate), and saw his called strikes plus whiff rate (CSW) go from 28% in 2024 to 23.5% in 2025. As a result, Long lost his setup position in the bullpen to other left-hander relievers like Angel Zerpa and Daniel Lynch IV last season. Long went on the IL on April 13th due to left elbow inflammation and didn't return to the Royals until June 20th. He struggled in the first half of the season with a 9.82 ERA and 1.98 WHIP in 14.2 IP before the All-Star Break. However, he was more effective in the second half, as he posted a 2.81 ERA and 1.60 WHIP in 25.2 IP. The Royals were in a tough dilemma with Long this offseason. Not only was he arbitration-eligible (MLBTR predicted his salary amount to be around $950K), but he was also out of Minor League options. With Lynch, Zerpa, and Bailey Falter, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Trade Deadline, also on the 40-man roster, Long appeared to be the odd man out. Kyle Wright was also listed as an outright to Omaha after clearing waivers on the transactions sheet. On Tuesday, Jon Heyman of the NY Post reported that Wright was being put on waivers. Update (9:55 a.m., November 7th): The Royals announced via social media that they have outrighted Long and Wright officially, and they both have elected free agency. Photo Credit: © Dennis Lee-Imagn Images View full rumor

On Wednesday, rumors circulated that the Royals were adding a new hitting coach to their staff for the 2026 season. At the conclusion of the 2025 season, Kansas City parted ways with assistant hitting coaches Keoni DeRenne and Joe Dillon. Hitting coach Alec Zumwalt remains in his current role. Royals insider David Lesky of Inside the Crown and the Kauffman Corner podcast first reported that Brewers assistant hitting coach Connor Dawson would be joining as part of the hitting coaching staff under manager Matt Quatraro. Later this evening, Robert Murray of Fansided confirmed the rumor via his sources. Dawson has been part of the Milwaukee coaching staff since 2021. Over the past two seasons, the Brewers rank ninth in wRC+ and fourth in runs scored, according to FanGraphs. Conversely, over the past two years, the Royals rank 21st in wRC+ and 19th in runs scored. Dawson is a local product who attended Olathe North High School in Kansas and played college baseball at Neosho Community College, which is 2 hours from Kansas City. He coached high school baseball at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, Kansas, from 2015 to 2018 and at Marshalltown Community College in Iowa in 2019. He made the jump to professional ball with the Mariners in 2019, where he served as a Minor League Hitting Coach until the Brewers hired him. No official announcement has been made about Dawson by the Royals or about anyone else joining the coaching staff. In addition to parting ways with DeRenne and Dillon, the Royals let go of Minor League Hitting Coordinator Drew Saylor and lost assistant pitching coach Zach Bove to the White Sox, where he will be the pitching coach. View full rumor

This piece is in Spanish (thank God for translation plug-ins), but it's really insightful, with many powerful and poignant quotes from Maikel. Gives a glimpse into his road to the Majors and some of the things that he had to overcome personally to get this far.

Image courtesy of © Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Kansas City Royals GM JJ Picollo hasn't been idle since the 2025 MLB season concluded with Game 7 of the World Series on Saturday, November 1st. Since the Dodgers clinched their latest World Series championship, Picollo has parted ways with pitchers Michael Lorenzen and Kyle Wright, as well as outfielder Randal Grichuk (all expected moves). However, the most significant move by Picollo just three days into the offseason was the signing of catcher and captain Salvador Perez to a new two-year deal. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== MLB.com Royals beat writer Anne Rogers confirmed on social media shortly after the official announcement that Salvy's two-year deal is worth $25 million. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== The Royals held a club option on Salvy for 2026 worth $13.5 million. While they are paying for an extra year, they save $1 million on his 2026 contract under this new deal. At 35 years old, Perez is entering the twilight of his career, though he has still been productive at the plate for the Royals. In 2025, Salvy slashed .236/.284/.446 with a .729 OPS and hit 30 home runs and collected 100 RBI in 597 plate appearances. His 95 wRC+ was lower than his 117 mark in 2024, and his 0.5 fWAR was also much lower than 3.3 fWAR in 2024. Still, in terms of home runs and run production, Salvy was one of the Royals' more dependable hitters a season ago. Let's look at what Salvy did in 2025 in terms of Statcast metrics and how the Royals should handle his catching load in 2026 and 2027 to maximize his production over the duration of his new contract. Salvy's Batted Ball Quality Still As Good As Ever When it comes to plate discipline, "patience" isn't exactly a term that describes Perez's approach. In 2025, his 0.22 BB/K ratio was 12 points lower than in 2024, and his 4.4% walk rate was 2.3% lower. Interestingly enough, his 40.1% O-Swing% was actually 2.5% better than a year ago, and his contact rate was 1.2% better as well, according to Fangraphs. Still, those categories ranked in the 2nd and 3rd percentiles, respectively, via Savant. Conversely, his barrel rate, hard-hit rate, and launch-angle sweet-spot percentage remained stellar, as illustrated in his TJ Stats Statcast profile below. Salvy's 90th percentile EV ranked in the 77th percentile, his Max EV ranked in the 87th percentile, and his barrel rate ranked in the 90th percentile. Those are all elite marks and illustrated that Perez remains one of the better power-hitting catchers in the game, despite his age. His hard-hit rate (65th percentile) and LA Sweet-Spot% (66th percentile) weren't quite as immaculate, but they were still solid marks, nonetheless. When it came to barrels, Perez's 10.9% Brls/PA% was the second-best mark in baseball, behind only Seattle's Cal Raleigh, an AL MVP candidate. An interesting aspect about Salvy's batted-ball profile is that he remained strong in pulling the ball, especially in the air. His Pull Air% ranked in the 89th percentile, and many of his home runs were launched over the left-field wall, especially at Kauffman Stadium, which profiles as more friendly to right-handed pull hitters, according to Statcast park factors. That said, he still demonstrated an ability to hit the long ball to all directions in 2025, as illustrated by his 2025 HR spray chart, via Savant. Based on the batted-ball profile and spray charts, Perez should remain an option for the Royals in the No. 4-5 spots in the batting order in 2026 and perhaps 2027, depending on how this upcoming season goes. Even with slight regression (he will be 36 in May), his exit velocity and barrel profile should still help him collect 20-25 home runs next season, at the very least (as long as he stays healthy, of course). Royals Have Help For Salvy Behind the Plate in Jensen The trade of Freddy Fermin to San Diego helped the Royals in the long term, as it gave them two solid arms in Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek. However, one could argue that it hurt Salvy at the plate, as he was forced to increase his catching load in the absence of Fermin. According to Fangraphs game logs, after August 1st, Perez slashed .199/.256/.423 with an 82 wRC+ in 212 plate appearances. He hit 12 home runs and collected 36 RBI over that sample. However, he was unable to provide much else beyond home runs during those last two months of the regular season. A positive development for 2026, though, is that Salvy should have help with Carter Jensen, who had a sensational rookie debut in Kansas City. The Royals brought Jensen up when rosters expanded in September, and he absolutely mashed in his month-long sample. In 69 plate appearances, he slashed .300/.391/.550 with a 159 wRC+. He also hit three home runs, scored 12 runs, and collected 13 RBI. The most impressive aspect of his rookie debut may be the excellent exit-velocity, barrel, and plate-discipline metrics he displayed, according to his TJ Stats profile. What Jensen did on a Statcast end was absolutely ridiculous, especially when one breaks it all down: 99th percentile in Average EV. 98th percentile in barrel rate. 97th percentile in LA Sweet-Spot% 97th percentile in wOBA; 98th percentile in xwOBA 94th percentile in BB% 74th percentile in K% and O-Swing% 90th percentile in Pull Air% Granted, that's only a month-long sample. Still, it's absolutely elite and shows that Jensen has All-Star and Silver Slugger potential. Even with some expected growing pains on both the offensive and defensive ends, Jensen's presence in the lineup will ease the pressure on Salvy to play catcher every day while still maintaining above-average power production. Furthermore, Jensen backing up Perez in 2026 also allows Royals manager Matt Quatraro to give Salvy those much-needed breaks from catching and let him play first base or hit in the DH spot. Fermin's strong defensive ability and average hitting allowed Quatraro to employ that strategy in 2024 and most of 2025, much to the benefit of Salvy and the Royals as a whole. Jensen should continue that trend, as long as he continues to showcase his solid skillset in 2026 over a full MLB season. The development of Jensen could help Perez remain a key producer for the Royals, not just in 2026 but also in 2027. Not only will that make Salvy's contract well worth the money, but the next two years could allow Salvy to mentor Jensen and help him develop into the Royals' next long-term franchise catcher. View full article

On Tuesday, the Chicago White Sox announced that they hired Zach Bove as their pitching coach for the 2026 season. Bove, who came to Kansas City from the Twins, where he served as an assistant pitching coordinator, had been the Royals' assistant pitching coach for the past three seasons and worked closely with pitching coach Brian Sweeney. The White Sox have been adding new members to second-year manager Will Venables' staff. In addition to Bove, Chicago will also be hiring a former Marlins assistant hitting coach to be the White Sox's hitting coach next season. The loss of Bove is a tough one for a Royals pitching staff that has seen a resurgence under Bove and Sweeney. In 2025, the Royals' pitching staff ranked 6th in baseball with a 3.73 ERA. In 2024, they ranked 7th with a 3.76 ERA. The bullpen saw the most significant gain over the past two seasons, going from 20th in ERA in 2024 to 7th in 2025. Bove was known for his work in helping pitchers refine their pitch shapes and quality during his time with the Royals. Many pitchers saw positive changes in their repertoires during their time in Kansas City, with Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans being the biggest success stories. Lugo and Ragans finished second and fourth in the AL Cy Young race in 2024. No replacement for Bove has been named yet. Sweeney remains as the Royals' pitching coach, and Mitch Stetter is still the Royals' bullpen coach, according to the Royals' official website. Photo Credit: © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images View full rumor

On the Royals' social media on Tuesday evening, the club announced that it had agreed to terms on a two-year contract with catcher Salvador Perez. The Royals held a $13.5 million club option on Perez for 2026. However, it was expected that they would bring Salvy back next season, either on that option or by offering a new contract, so that he could perhaps retire with the Royals organization he had spent his entire career with. It appears that Royals GM JJ Picollo went with the latter, committing to their captain for at least a couple of more seasons. Here's what Picollo said about the announcement on Salvy's new deal. No monetary amount has been reported just yet, and it's unclear whether any options will be involved in his new deal. More details about the agreement will likely be revealed in the coming days.* Edit as of 7:38 CST: Joel Sherman reports that it will be a two-year, $25 million deal (thus, an AAV of $12.5 million). Earlier today, Jon Heyman reported that pitcher Kyle Wright would be placed on outright waivers. That clears a roster spot on the 40-man roster and money on the payroll, as Wright was arbitration-eligible. Salvy's extension is likely the first of a series of moves by the Royals this offseason as they look to return to the postseason after an 82-80 campaign in 2025. Kansas City has the financial flexibility to make some roster moves, and the releases of players like Michael Lorenzen, Randal Grichuk, and Wright only give them more flexibility, even with the announcement of Salvy's new deal. Thankfully for Royals fans, the future Royals Hall of Famer (and possibly Cooperstown-bound catcher) situation isn't in doubt next season or in 2027. Photo Credit: © Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images View full rumor

Image courtesy of © William Purnell-Imagn Images 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). 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. View full article

On Monday afternoon, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reported that right-handed pitcher Alec Marsh had a labral repair on his right shoulder last month. According to Rogers, the 27-year-old, who missed all of 2025 due to a shoulder injury, may be looking at up to a year of recovery. Marsh was a key pitcher for the Royals during their 86-76 season in 2024. In his first full season with the Royals, he posted a 4.53 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 129 IP. While his ERA was high, it was an improvement from his 5.69 ERA in 74.1 IP in 2023, and his 4.34 FIP and 3.15 K/BB ratio illustrated that he may have been better than his ERA in 2024. Before his injury, the Royals were unsure whether Marsh would return to the rotation or remain in the bullpen, where he pitched at the end of the 2024 season. However, he suffered his injury early in Spring Training and didn't throw a single pitch at the Minor or Major League level in 2025. The injury to Marsh hurts the possible depth of a Royals staff that was heavily affected by injuries last year. Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic missed significant time due to shoulder injuries, though Ragans returned in September. Kyle Wright pitched in the Minor Leagues, but was shut down during his rehab and didn't throw a pitch at the MLB level. Seth Lugo was also shut down at the end of the season due to a back issue. With Michael Lorenzen a free agent, the Royals may look for pitching on the free agent or trade market to replace Marsh's spot on the 40-man roster for 2026. Photo Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images View full rumor

Image courtesy of © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images After a crazy World Series (unfortunately, the Blue Jays couldn't take down the Evil Blue Umpire, i.e., the Los Angeles Dodgers), the MLB offseason has officially begun. While we are still a far way away from the Winter Meetings in December, there is still plenty for baseball fans, especially Royals fans, to pay attention to this offseason. The Royals went 82-80 in 2025, their second winning season since their World Series title in 2015. Even though Kansas City had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2014-2015, they missed the postseason, which was disappointing after they won 86 games and reached the ALDS in 2024. Consistent offense was an issue for the Royals last season. Even with dynamic players like Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez, Vinnie Pasquantino, and Maikel Garcia, they ranked 20th in OPS, 22nd in OBP, and 26th in runs scored and home runs. Thus, to return to the postseason in 2026, the Royals need to upgrade their lineup, whether through trade or free agency. In this post, I will identify five free agents that could provide a boost to the Royals' lineup and could be realistic targets for the club, based on their payroll. I am not including Perez in this group, for even though he has a club option (which could be declined, making him a free agent), he will likely be back, whether on that option or another multi-year contract. To analyze these five free agents, I will use TJ Stats' Statcast summary profiles and projected market value data from Spotrac. Alex Bregman, 3B (Market Value: $27,667, 118) After opting out of his contract, Bregman will be one of the more high-profile free agents this winter. The 31-year-old third baseman had a solid season with the Red Sox in 2025, hitting .273 while collecting 18 home runs and posting an .818 OPS in 493 plate appearances. Based on his Statcast metrics, Bregman's home run power may stagnate at Kauffman Stadium. His barrel rate ranked in the 19th percentile, his Max EV ranked in the 23rd percentile, and his LA Sweet-Spot% ranked in the 29th percentile. However, he would bring a disciplined approach to the Royals lineup, especially a whiff rate that ranked in the 90th percentile and a K% that ranked in the 88th percentile. The longtime Astro may be out of the Royals' price range, especially with Spotrac projecting his market value to be over $27 million. However, Jon Heyman reported on October 15th that the Royals could be a surprise suitor for Bregman, especially if Garcia is willing to move over to second base. For a Bregman deal to happen, the Royals would likely need to non-tender Jonathan India to create space in the infield. Furthermore, the Royals wouldn't be able to spend heavily in other areas this offseason, putting pressure on young hitters like Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen to step up and produce in 2026. Mike Yastrzemski, OF (Market Value: $11,308,059) The good thing about Yastrzemski is that the Royals have the advantage of him playing 50 games with the Royals after he was acquired from San Francisco after the Trade Deadline. In 186 plate appearances with the Royals last season, he slashed .237/.339/.500 with an .839 OPS, and he had nine home runs, 18 RBI, and 30 runs scored. Like Bregman, there could be some power concerns with Yastrzemski over a full season. His barrel rate ranked in the 43rd percentile, and his hard-hit rate ranked in the 51st percentile. However, his max EV ranked in the 19th percentile, and the 90th percentile EV ranked in the 30th percentile. Despite those issues, he, like Bregman, was extremely disciplined at the plate, as evidenced by his 86th percentile O-Swing%, 81st percentile Whiff%, and 1.14 BB/K ratio with the Royals. The Royals could play Yastrzemski at all three outfield positions, and he could handle leadoff duties as well, especially if manager Matt Quatraro prefers to keep Garcia lower in the batting order. The only issue with bringing back Yastrzemski is that he likely would need to platoon with a right-handed bat, which the Royals don't have readily available on their 40-man roster right now. That platoon limitation could make the Royals look elsewhere, especially if Yastrzemski is looking for a multi-year deal in that $11 million AAV range. Tommy Pham, OF (Market Value: $6,728,516) The Royals brought over Pham in 2024 after Pasquantino suffered a thumb injury that forced him to miss the last month of the regular season. The veteran outfielder didn't impress in his 23-game stint with the Royals, as he slashed .228/.250/.337 with two home runs and a .587 OPS in 101 plate appearances. Thus, it's not surprising that the Royals didn't bring him back in free agency in 2025. Pham found a home in Pittsburgh in 2025, and for the first time since 2021, he stayed with a single team for the entire season. The 37-year-old outfielder was productive in Pittsburgh, as he slashed .245/.325/.370, collected 10 home runs, and posted a .695 OPS in 447 plate appearances. Pham also showcased solid plate discipline with a 0.56 BB/K ratio, and his whiff rate and walk rate ranked in the 61st and 77th percentiles, respectively. That approach would certainly be welcomed in the Royals lineup, especially in the 6-8 spots in the batting order. Now, if the Royals do acquire Pham, it likely won't be for a long-term deal, as Pham will be 38 in 2026. Furthermore, he likely would have a platoon role in 2026, splitting with Caglianone in left field or perhaps seeing time in center or left field when the Royals are facing a left-handed starting pitcher. Would Pham be okay with that role, or is he looking for a more regular spot next season? It will be important for the Royals to do their due diligence if they are interested in him, as a disgruntled Pham wouldn't help the clubhouse vibe (which has been a problem in previous stops, though he was fine in Kansas City two seasons ago). Rob Refsnyder, OF (Market Value: $4,250,071) If the Royals do want to bring back Yastrzemski, they may also wish to pursue Refsnyder, who would be the logical platoon pairing. In 138 plate appearances with the Red Sox against left-handed pitchers, the 34-year-old slashed .302/.399/.560 with a .959 OPS. He also hit seven home runs, collected 25 RBI, and posted a 0.59 BB/K ratio against lefties last season. Thus, while limited, he seems to have thrived in a limited platoon role. The primary issue with Refsnyder is that he was pretty mediocre last year against right-handed pitchers. In 71 plate appearances against non-southpaws, he slashed .216/.268/.348 with a .616 OPS. He only hit two home runs, and his BB/K ratio was much worse at 0.23, highlighted by a 31% K% that was 7.8% higher than his K% against lefties. With Refsnyder, the Royals would acquire a right-handed bat with legitimate power. Last season, his barrel rate ranked in the 80th percentile, his average exit velocity ranked in the 88th percentile, and his hard-hit rate ranked in the 94th percentile. That kind of pop is much-needed in a lineup that struggled with the long ball. That said, he wouldn't be an everyday option but rather a platoon player with Yastrzemski or Caglianone in the corner outfield positions. Adam Frazier, UTL (Market Value: $4,053,887) Speaking of vibes, Frazier has seemed to have an impact on the Royals that goes beyond statistics. After being acquired at the All-Star Break, the 33-year-old utility player slashed .283/.320/.402 with a .722 OPS in 197 plate appearances. He hit four home runs, scored 21 runs, and collected 23 RBI, productive for a player who rotated around the field for Kansas City. Frazier played the entire 2024 season with the Royals, and his numbers were more meager. In 104 games and 294 plate appearances, he slashed .202/.282/.294 with a .576 OPS. His fWAR was -0.5 that season, a big reason why the Royals initially didn't bring him back for 2025. And yet, the Royals are 121-106 with Frazier on the roster over the past two seasons. Without him? They are 47-50. Will Frazier posted a .722 OPS over a full season in 2026? Probably not. That said, if he can post a .660-.680 OPS over 300 plate appearances and provide solid defensive value at multiple positions (second and third base and the corner outfield positions)? Well, bringing Frazier back for 2026 may be in the cards for the Royals, especially since it's likely that he won't command more than a one-year deal. View full article

Royals shortstop Daniel Vazquez is having a good campaign in the Arizona Fall League, as talked about by Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline. Here's a snippet from the piece. Vazquez had a solid campaign in Quad Cities last year, posting a 98 wRC+ in 105 games. He also has a Gold Glove-caliber glove and could contribute to the big league club in 2027.

According to MLB.com Royals writer Anne Rogers, on Sunday evening, the Royals declined the mutual option on starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen. Lorenzen was due $12 million in 2026 if the Royals exercised his option. Since they didn't, they will pay him a $1.5 million buyout to allow him to be a free agent. The 33-year-old right-hander came back to Kansas City this season after joining the Royals in 2024 at the Trade Deadline. After posting a 1.57 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 28.2 IP with the Royals in 2024, Lorenzen regressed in his first full season with the Royals. In 27 appearances (26 starts), Lorenzen went 7-11 and posted a 4.64 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. His 4.70 xERA was also higher than his 4.59 mark a season ago with the Rangers and Royals. In addition to Lorenzen becoming a free agent, Hunter Harvey, Mike Yastrzemski, Adam Frazier, and Luke Maile officially became free agents today, per Rogers and MLBPA's official free agent announcements. View full rumor