Offseason Outlook: Kansas City Royals

The 2024 Royals added 30 wins relative to the prior season, going from 56 to 86 and sneaking into the playoffs for the first time since their World Series win in 2015. Now they’ll go into the winter as clear contenders for the first time in a while, but still with lots of uncertainty ahead.

Guaranteed Contracts

• Bobby Witt Jr., SS: $279MM through 2034 (Final four years are annual player options; Royals can trigger three-year club option for ’35-’37 if Witt triggers all player options)
• Seth Lugo, RHP: $30MM through 2026 (’26 is $15MM player option)
• Salvador Perez, C: $24MM through 2025 (including $2MM buyout on ’26 club option; $2MM of ’25 salary is deferred)

Other Financial Commitments

• Owe Hunter Dozier $1MM buyout on 2025 club option

Option Decisions

• Michael Wacha, RHP: $16MM player option
• Hunter Renfroe, OF: $7.5MM player option
• Chris Stratton, RHP: $4.5MM player option ($500K buyout)
• Team, IF/OF Adam Frazier hold $8.5MM mutual option ($2.5MM buyout)

Total 2025 commitments (assuming Renfroe and Stratton are the only two options triggered): $61.5MM
Total future commitments (assuming Renfroe and Stratton are the only two options triggered): $348.5MM

Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections via Matt Swartz)

• Josh Taylor (5.121): $1.1MM
• Hunter Harvey (5.047): $3.9MM
• Brady Singer (4.156): $8.8MM
• Kris Bubic (4.135): $2.8MM
• Kyle Wright (4.062): $1.8MM
• John Schreiber (4.027): $2MM
• Carlos Hernández (3.099): $1.2MM
• Kyle Isbel (3.043): $1.7MM
• MJ Melendez (2.153): $2.5MM
• Daniel Lynch IV (2.136): 1.1MM

Non-tender candidates: Taylor, Harvey, Hernández, Melendez

Free Agents

• Will Smith, Michael Lorenzen, Tommy Pham, Garrett Hampson, Paul DeJong, Robbie Grossman, Yuli Gurriel

Coming into 2024, the Royals were an afterthought for many observers. They had spent close to a decade in the wilderness, finishing at .500 or below in each season from 2016 to 2023. But they managed to shoot back into contention this year and secure a postseason berth, mostly thanks to their starting pitching.

The Kansas City rotation had a 3.55 earned run average this year, second only to the Mariners. An aggressive offseason a year ago played a part in that, as the Royals were one of the more active teams last winter. Their two biggest free agent deals were for starting pitchers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, both of which were big wins for the club this year. Lugo made 33 starts and tossed over 200 innings with a flat ERA of 3.00, which will surely lead to some Cy Young votes. Wacha got to 29 starts and 166 2/3 innings with a 3.35 ERA.

They also gave a massive extension to Bobby Witt Jr., who went on to have an MVP caliber season in 2024. Those moves and others pushed the payroll to $115MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, getting into nine-figure territory for the first time since their last competitive window closed. It’s unclear whether they plan to maintain that level of spending, increase it or decrease it.

It was speculated by some that the free agent signings and the Witt extension last winter were an attempt by owner John Sherman to build some public goodwill that would help him secure public money for a new stadium. But in April, voters in Jackson County, Missouri rejected a sales tax measure that would have provided funding for a new stadium for the Royals as well as upgrades for Arrowhead Stadium, home of the NFL’s Chiefs.

There’s also the broadcast revenue situation to consider. The Royals were one of the clubs with Bally Sports in 2024 but they may not be able to continue that relationship going forward. Diamond Sports Group, the company that has owned Bally for years, has been in bankruptcy for almost two years now and is planning to significantly scale back its MLB operations in 2025. As of a few weeks ago, they were reportedly planning to cut ties with 11 of the 12 clubs they broadcasted in 2024, with the Royals one of the many on the chopping block. It’s possible that a new deal could be worked out, but that would come with lower fees than the club had received previously. The Royals reportedly received $45MM as part of their deal with Diamond as recently as 2022.

Even though the club just had a strong season and got some playoff revenue, will Sherman have less interest in throwing money at the team now that the stadium situation is in no man’s land and there’s likely less TV money coming in?