\"A dim view of humanity\" -Lee Judge
The Royals announced they have avoided arbitration with reliever James McArthur, signing him to a contract for 2026 for $810,000, according to MLB.com reporter Anne Rogers. McArthur led the team with 18 saves in 2024, posting a 4.92 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 56.2 innings. He missed all of this season following elbow surgery. He […]
2 months ago | 1 read
When my family moved to the Kansas City area when I was in elementary school, I wasn’t yet a Royals fan. But as an avid reader of the Saturday sports section and watcher of Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter, I was a fan of a few players. One of them was towering left-handed pitcher Randy Johnson—The […]
2 months ago | 3 reads
I don’t think that the Kansas City Royals would have made the 2025 playoffs if they had kept Brady Singer. Singer was good this year, but he wouldn’t have solved the main problem with the team, which was that their offense was flatter than a can of Dr. Pepper left open overnight all year. But […]
2 months ago | 3 reads
MLB Trade Rumors is taking a reader poll on what the Royals should do about their second base situation: If the Royals decided to stick with both players, they’d been committing nearly $10MM to what would essentially be a second base platoon that was below replacement level in 2025. That’s a big gamble given the […]
2 months ago | 0 reads
Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr entered the 2025 season with sky-high expectations. His 2024 season was one for the ages; he signed an 11-year, 288.7 million contract in February of 2024, then posted 10.5 fWAR, finishing second in AL MVP voting behind Aaron Judge. Witt firmly established himself among the upper echelon of […]
2 months ago | 1 read
The Royals have been reportedly interested in Taylor Ward as far back as the summer of 2024, when they were making their push for the playoffs with an offense full of holes. The team has been unable to patch those holes up so far, and one potential solution was stymied last night when the Orioles […]
2 months ago | 2 reads
When you post on SB Nation, we don’t want you to miss all the conversations and responses that follow. So starting today, whenever a user replies to your comment or to your post on the Feed, you’ll see a notification at the top right corner of the page. And of course, this means that when […]
2 months ago | 2 reads
In the 1850s, thousands of immigrants from the Bohemia region of Czechoslovakia settled in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Most of these immigrants settled into neighborhoods just southeast of downtown and worked at local meatpacking plants. Two of those new Americans were Frank and Sofia Slapnicka. The Slapnickas had four children; the youngest, named Cyril, soon developed […]
2 months ago | 0 reads
The Kansas City Royals protected two top-30 prospects from the Rule 5 Draft on Tuesday. MLB.com’s Anne rogers highlights some other Top-30 prospects that are now available for other teams in this winter’s draft. Vazquez, a shortstop, had a great Arizona Fall League performance again this fall, but he’s still just 21 years old and […]
2 months ago | 2 reads
The Royals have added pitchers Ben Kudrna and Steven Zobac to the 40-man roster ahead of today’s deadline to protect eligible players from the Rule 5 draft to be held in December. The Royals did not add pitcher Frank Mozzicato or outfielder Gavin Cross, both former first-round picks who are eligible to be selected. Ben […]
2 months ago | 1 read
For Royals fans looking for an upgrade in the lineup, two options are already off the board. Free agent second baseman Gleyber Torres of the Tigers and outfielder Trent Grisham of the Yankees both accepted the one-year Qualifying Offer to remain with their respective teams. Also accepting are pitchers Shota Imanaga of the Cubs and […]
2 months ago | 0 reads
My sports world is in a tailspin. The Chiefs are struggling, the Blues are awful, and the Timberwolves are the Timberwolves. Nothing seems to be going right. The Royals, at least, are interesting in these early days of the offseason. The team hasn’t made any major moves, but there have been smaller transactions, rumors, awards […]
2 months ago | 0 reads
Vinnie Pasquantino has carved a spot on the Kansas City Royals as one part slugger, one-part core building block, and one part of quasi-mascot. His MLB debut season was tantalizing, and he finally had a fully healthy season in 2025 where he amassed some truly impressive counting stats: 30 home runs, 100 runs batted in, […]
2 months ago | 1 read
Anne Rogers writes about the team awards handed on yesterday. And all three won Royals team awards Monday, as voted on by the Kansas City chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Witt was named the Les Milgram Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive season — all four seasons of his Major […]
2 months ago | 0 reads
Alex Gordon, an All-Star outfielder who spent 14 seasons with the Royals, is among 12 first-time candidates for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America unveiled its 2026 ballot on Monday. The other newcomers to the ballot include Ryan Braun, Shin-Soo Choo, Edwin Encarnacion, Gio Gonzalez, Cole Hamels, Howie Kendrick, Matt […]
2 months ago | 0 reads
I attended my first Royals game in 1988, and that was the first season I followed what was really happening to the team. By 1989, I was a baseball nut, asking to spend my birthday party at the Royals game with friends, tuning into “This Week in Baseball” each week, and reading coverage from Dick […]
2 months ago | 0 reads
In this packed episode of Royals Rundown, hosts Jacob Milham and Jeremy Greco break down the latest buzz surrounding the Kansas City Royals. With the offseason heating up, they explore key takeaways from general manager J.J. Piccolo’s recent comments, including trade priorities, pitching depth, and the organization’s focus on outfield upgrades. The duo also weighs […]
2 months ago | 0 reads
Last week, I covered how the Royals changed Ryan Bergert from a guy way out-performing his peripherals to one with significantly better peripherals to the point that even as he improved in total, he was underperforming the new ones. This week, I wanted to take a look at what they did with Stephen Kolek. The […]
2 months ago | 0 reads
Jaylon Thompson writes that Blake Mitchell is starting to feel like himself again in Arizona. “It’s a bunch of fun competing with these guys,” Mitchell said. “It’s great. I couldn’t imagine just sitting at home just doing the offseason right now. I would much rather be out here playing baseball, competing with these guys, my […]
2 months ago | 0 reads
Anne Rogers talks to J.J. Picollo on his objectives this offseason, including upgrading the outfield. “That’s one of the objectives. Our outfield hasn’t been as productive as we needed it to be over the last two or three years. We’re back at it again, trying to figure things out. We’ve got a young player who […]
2 months ago | 2 reads
It seems like a lot of people are assuming the Royals can trade from their starting pitching depth, and I felt like I wanted to be one of them. However, I started thinking about how deep is this depth that they would be trading from? There are a lot of arms that could start in […]
2 months ago | 5 reads
In this episode of the Royals Rundown podcast, hosts Jacob Milham and Jeremy “Hokius” Greco dive into the Kansas City Royals’ offseason strategy and the latest trade rumors heating up the hot stove. They break down which outfielders could land in Kansas City, including Jarren Duran, Taylor Ward, and Jo Adell and debate the pros […]
2 months ago | 2 reads
J.J. Picollo has been quite clear that he is looking for outfielders, with several rumors already matriculating out of the general manager meetings in Las Vegas this week. But the Royals may be creative in their pursuit to upgrade the worst-hitting outfield in baseball. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that they have […]
2 months ago | 2 reads
Every year for the last few years, we write articles here about how to watch the Kansas City Royals. Just two decades ago, that you would have needed such a guide would have seemed ridiculous. Back then, to watch the Royals you would simply do so on cable television or listen on the radio. The […]
2 months ago | 3 reads
Even in a down year, Bobby Witt Jr. is among the best in baseball. The Royals shortstop finished fourth in American League MVP voting in results released Thursday, behind winner Aaron Judge of the Yankees. Witt finished second to Judge last year. Bobby hit .295/.351/.502 with 23 home runs and 38 steals, while leading the […]
2 months ago | 2 reads