Offseason Outlook: Kansas City Royals

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.