\"A dim view of humanity\" -Lee Judge
As 2025 draws to a close, MLB teams have less than two months before they begin reconvening in warmer climates for spring training. Many teams still have yet to accomplish their offseason goals, and several big free agents remain unsigned. The Royals have been active in upgrading their roster, but still have yet to acquire […]
about 1 month ago | 1 read
Ben Clemens at Fangraphs evaluates the Matt Strahm trade. For me, Strahm is already the best reliever in Kansas City. But even if you’re an Estévez truther, Strahm is at worst the second banana. Lucas Erceg and John Schreiber are nice middle relievers. I’m curious to see whether Daniel Lynch IV can reinvent himself out of the bullpen. Offseason trade acquisition Nick […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
This is a story I’ve been thinking about writing for the last five years. Maybe it will resonate with some readers. Maybe it will flop. Some will agree with it; others may attack me for writing it. Why do people write, anyway? To tell a story? To entertain? To push a point of view? All […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
At first glance, the 2026 ZiPS projections for the Royals look familiar. ZIPS is the projection system formulated by Dan Szymborski at Fangraphs that looks at historical playing aging curves and applies them to current players. The topline projected total for the Royals in 2026 is similar to last year’s, with modest gains on the […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
What does baseball look like when you step behind the lens? In this episode of the Royals Rundown Podcast, Jeremy “Hokius” Greco sits down with Minda Haas Kuhlmann, independent sports photographer for the Omaha Storm Chasers, to explore the art, access, and storytelling that define modern sports photography. Minda traces her path into photography through […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
We are now fully in the depths of winter. The Chiefs, for the first time in a decade, have failed to achieve the playoffs. So Kansas City sports fans, still lacking an NBA or NHL team, can only spend the cold months waiting for Spring Training. It will be here soon, but not soon enough. […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic has the latest on Royals trade talks. [$] The Royals had been telling clubs and agents they were operating with limited financial flexibility. But ownership allowed the front office to extend for Strahm, who became a more pressing addition after the Royals traded lefty reliever Angel Zerpa to the Milwaukee […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
J.J. Picollo welcomes Matt Strahm to the Royals, as covered by Anne Rogers. “We were all very, very excited when we realized this was a possibility for our team,” general manager J.J. Picollo said. “We know Matt very well as a person, as a player, what type of competitor he is. And when you’re talking […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
Four score and seven years ago, the Kansas City Royals told the world that they’d be looking to construct a new stadium. Technically, that official statement is only three years old, but it feels like an eternity considering how so much and yet how so little has happened in the Royals stadium timeline. Every so […]
about 1 month ago | 1 read
The Royals have signed utility player Abraham Toro to a minor league deal, according to writer Daniel Álvarez-Montes. Toro spent last year with the Red Sox and hit .239/.289/.371 with seven home runs in 77 games. He is a 28-year-old switch-hitter who is capable of playing all over the field, although he has spent most […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
What do the numbers actually say about the Kansas City Royals? In this episode of the Royals Rundown Podcast, Jacob Milham and Jeremy Greco welcome Dan Szymborski, creator of ZiPS, for a deep dive into the Royals’ latest projections and what they reveal about the team’s short- and long-term outlook. The conversation begins with how […]
about 1 month ago | 0 reads
The Royals managed to jump the leak train entirely when they abruptly announced this morning that they had acquired left-handed relief pitcher Matt Strahm in exchange for right-handed reliever Jonathan Bowlan. This trade must have come together quickly and easily because most transactions during the MLB offseason are broken hours, if not days, in advance […]
about 1 month ago | 3 reads
Let’s start with a story about Horace Stoneham. Stoneham owned the New York Giants starting in the mid-30s through the mid-70s. After the 1957 season, Stoneham and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley moved both of their teams out of New York and into California, settling in San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively. Before the move, […]
about 1 month ago | 3 reads
The Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council will meet Monday to consider a deal to lure the Chiefs to Kansas. Top Kansas lawmakers have previously said they would not entertain a stadium deal after the end of the year, despite the fact that the STAR bonds program was renewed until June 2026. The Royals will not be […]
about 1 month ago | 1 read
Seeking a solution to the lack of outfield offense, the Royals went out and acquired a trio of players in advance of the 2025 trade deadline. The results varied, but I admired the attempt to do … something. Those guys, the subjects of this article, are Mike Yastrzemski, Randal Grichuk, and Adam Frazier. Yaz was […]
about 1 month ago | 1 read
Welcome back reader! If you are reading this, you’ve probably already read the earlier entry breaking down Royals hitter performances in the Arizona Fall League. If you haven’t, go back and read it! We’re back today to do the same for pitchers. Five pitchers from the Royals organization (as of the beginning of AFL play) took the […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
Hear from J.J. Picollo and Maikel Garcia on the latter’s recent contract extension: Craig Brown at Into the Fountains analyzes the adjustments that fueled Maikel Garcia’s breakout season: Honestly, there’s not much of a difference between the two seasons other than the space between his feet and straightening of his front foot. Everything else is […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
I think about the Kansas City Royals’ ALDS series versus the New York Yankees quite frequently, about as much as I think about the Roman Empire. When I think about the Royals dropping that series, I often think about the Yankees hitters compared to the Royals hitters and how many more pitches the Bronx hitters […]
about 1 month ago | 3 reads
Kansas City sports fans are psychopaths, but, like, the “Midwest Nice” kind of psychopath. Plenty of places have affinity for a certain team–like St. Louis and the Cardinals, Chicago and the Cubs, Dallas and the Cowboys–but Kansas City is unique in that the city will support well-run teams with their whole chest no matter the […]
about 1 month ago | 4 reads
Leawood Mayor Marc Elkins is the latest in a long line of stakeholders opposing a possible Kansas City Royals move to the Aspira campus. “Based on media reports and direct feedback from our residents, we share serious concerns about the potential impacts on Leawood and its citizens should a stadium be built on this property,” […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
Avocados are a neat little fruit. They’re creamy, high in important nutrients like fiber and potassium, and their mild yet delightful flavor is a great addition to all sorts of dishes. Unfortunately, avocados also have an extremely limited shelf life. If you’ve bought an avocado, you know that once you cut it you have an […]
about 1 month ago | 2 reads
Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic writes the Royals are still pursuing an outfielder. [$] Even after signing free agent Lane Thomas and trading for Isaac Collins, the Kansas City Royals are open to adding another outfielder – most notably Jarren Duran, if the Boston Red Sox lower their asking price. The Royals are under the […]
about 1 month ago | 3 reads
The Royals are making moves, and this episode breaks down what they really mean. Jacob Milham and Jeremy Greco are joined by Thomas Nestico (TJ Stats) to analyze one of the most surprising trades of the offseason, as the Kansas City Royals strike a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers that could quietly pay dividends. The […]
about 1 month ago | 4 reads
The Royals had nine potential honorees on last year’s ballot. I made a case that at least eight of them could deserve to be elected, even though we were restricted to only voting for five. Because of that restriction, I chose to intentionally leave off Wade Davis and Alex Gordon because I felt it was […]
about 1 month ago | 4 reads
Jaylon Thompson writes about the Royals acquiring Isaac Collins and Nick Mears from the Brewers for Angel Zerpa. “We were in the market for an outfield bat, and you know, through our process we started having conversations with Milwaukee,” Picollo said. “And immediately, it centered around Zerpa, and we still felt like we need to […]
about 1 month ago | 4 reads