*****Official 2025 Royals Season Repository Thread*****
 

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Coming off an American League Divisional Series appearance, its year 3 of Matt Quatraro tenure. Can they take the next step to a division title? Can Bobby Witt, Jr. take his superstar status to another level? Can Cole Ragans develop more? Will the other starting pitching duplicate last season? The offense can it deliver more? Who will be in the outfield? How about the new stadium development?

Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Jonathan India, 2B
Joey Wiemer, OF

Great season last year. Can we build on it?

We got the division title in our sights.

ALCS or bust, baby!

LETS FRICKIN' GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In!

Actually looking forward to baseball this season

We should have a very tough division this year ( less the White Sox ).

Im excited but we cant run Melendez, Isbel and Renfroe back out this year

LFG

Ready!

If we could replace the OF, we would be ready to roll. As it stands, we'll be ok.

My favorite professional baseball team, tbh!

Any news on how much a Boulevard Wheat will be?

They have to add a outfield bat, it's not a want...its a need.

Anthony Santander should be our main focus right now.

I called my shot and said the team would be above .500 last season. They went above and beyond, winning 86 and a playoff series. This year (2025) we are better and win 89.

LFG!!

They've made it pretty clear they aren't opening the check book this off season, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Blake Mitchell scouting report

Yea they're gonna move Massey to LF, that's the new OF bat.

I dunno.... have we not learned anything with just willy nilly turning infielders to outfielders at the ML level? sure Gordon worked out great... but Melendez is skates out there, also Massey has a popgun arm. I don't know that it will play out there. Garcia would have a better chance, IMO. I dunno... or, follow me here, we just sign or trade for an outfielder.

I was SURE they were going to sign Josh Rojas...but he went to the white sox.

Massey is lobbying to go to the OF, he thinks it'll help his back. It also opens 2nd for India which is well his spot.

I'm not saying it's what they should do or it's good, it's just what's likely to happen.

I think India may be the player on the move, since Massey is a damn good defensive 2B (when he's healthy) and India is pretty meh there.

I'd agree with you other than Massey apparently is asking to be moved from what I've heard, he thinks the OF will be easier on his back.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Royals Re-Sign Austin Cox To Minors Contract <a href="https://t.co/hXkGR59Vat">https://t.co/hXkGR59Vat</a> <a href="https://t.co/FVUHFLhRAR">pic.twitter.com/FVUHFLhRAR</a></p>&mdash; MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) <a href="https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1874941609562779783?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'm not sure what made you come to that decision other than the fact that you bitch about everything they do. The Royals are being smart and aren't gonna over pay. I think it's pretty clear some of these FA's are asking for more than they are worth. They're not done yet and will add at least one more positional starter.

Eh some guys did, Teoscar Hernandez literally got exactly what was predicted though.

When do they announce when the dollar dog nights are?

I'm talking about the guys that haven't signed yet

I wonder if Alex Bregman regrets turning down $156 million on six years from the Astros. It's similar to the deal that Matt Chapman got with the Giants and Bregman has every right to feel he's worth more than Chapman.

But still, no state income tax in Texas. Why wait it out for a $175 million deal from the Red Sox that's probably not there to begin with?

It's looking like he's going to have to settle for a short-term deal with high AAV and opt outs because there isn't enough of a market for him.

Also, the CBA is eliminating potential suitors for Bregman. The Yankees would likely sign him but they've already made it clear they don't want to incur further draft pick penalties for signing a second free agent with a qualifying offer attached after inking Max Fried.

Profar or Verdugo....ick

Feels like the Royals have regressed this offseason….

Profar finally had a nice year last year after underachieving forever. What kind of contract could be expect?

FanGraphs crowd source, which I have zero idea on accuracy, has him getting $45 for 3 years.

He's the best option left unless a trade is coming. I really want to improve the outfield.

Carter Jensen scouting report

Ya'll know I'm on board for a Profar add. Switch-hitter with pop and patience and even, above-average performance from both sides of the plate, and he's still a little better-than-average runner, too.

I'd love to add him and stick him at the 3 spot, or have him as another lead-off option.

India - 2B/LF
Witt - SS
Profar - LF/DH
Perez - C
Pasquantino - 1B
Renfroe/Melendez - RF
Massey - 2B/LF/DH
Garcia - 3B
Isbel - CF

Pretty nice lineup, really. Adding just ONE more bat makes a big difference, and you can afford to go defense-first if necessary at 3B and CF. While also making the lives of those players quite a bit easier, and maybe getting a touch more from their bats as a result...

That's what Baseball Trade Rumors had him going for, too.

16. Jurickson Profar: Three years, $45MM

Tim: Padres / Anthony: Royals / Darragh: Padres / Steve: Padres

Profar finally turned in the kind of season that most evaluators anticipated a decade ago. The sport’s #1 prospect when he reached the majors with the Rangers in 2012, Profar has had a frustratingly inconsistent career. Throwing woes pushed him from second base to left field. That put more pressure on his bat, which has bounced from decent to poor over the years.

Things hit a new low in 2023. Profar signed with the Rockies for $7.75MM. He had a sub-replacement showing and was released late in the season. He returned to the Padres for the final few games of the season and re-signed on a $1MM pact for 2024. San Diego gave Profar the starting left field job almost by default. Even Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller, who has acquired the switch-hitter multiple times in his career, wouldn’t have foreseen a season like this.

Profar hit .280/.380/.459 with 24 homers while playing in 158 games. He set career marks in longballs and in all three slash stats. Profar deservedly earned his first All-Star nod. He finished seventh in MLB (minimum 500 plate appearances) in on-base percentage. The six players above him in OBP: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Yordan Alvarez, Shohei Ohtani and Bobby Witt Jr.

When a player has this kind of an outlier season, it’s easy to assume it to be luck. That’s not the case here. Profar pushed his average exit velocity up nearly five miles per hour. He raised his hard contact rate (the percentage of batted balls hit 95+ MPH) by a staggering 13 percentage points. In 2023, Profar ranked between Willi Castro and Harrison Bader in hard contact. This year, he slotted between Carlos Correa and Jorge Soler. He got to that power without losing any of the plate discipline or bat-to-ball skills that have always been his best asset. He showed he could maintain that level for one season. Do teams believe he has finally found an All-Star level or view this year as punching above his weight?

The payroll-strapped Padres chose not to issue Profar a qualifying offer, so he’ll reach the market without the burden felt by players like Santander and Teoscar Hernandez.

Profar returns to free agency in line for a much more lucrative deal than he got last winter. He’ll be 32 in February. His camp could look for four years, but that essentially hasn’t been attainable for non-star hitters at that age. Mitch Haniger landed three years and $43.5MM as a corner bat at the same age. Profar’s camp will aim higher than that. The Padres would certainly love to have him back, but it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to make that work with other needs at shortstop and in the rotation. The Royals, Reds, Blue Jays, Angels, Pirates, Phillies and Braves could also have interest.

hopefully they can refurbish Froe...He has had some good seasons not long ago...

Anyone know the rules about free agency and the draft? I can’t keep up on the rule changes anymore. Say we go out, get nuts and sign Santander or Jurickson followed by surprise signing of Flaherty. Do we lose draft picks in 2025? I’m just wondering if that’s been a big part of our reticence to go out and sign someone.

The only people that we can sign and lose a pick is Bregman, Alonso, Pivetta, and Santander. If we sign one of those, it depends on how much we sign them for, but it will be our third or fourth highest pick in the draft. If we signed two guys on that list it would be the third and fourth highest picks. Everyone else is just a normal signing with no punishment.

It's not my money, but it seems like 3/45 for Profar is a pretty good deal for us, even if he was to regress a little from what he did last year.

No thanks.

We give this history a multi yr deal and we deserve it when he flops:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/p...rofaju01.shtml

Way too erratic. He just can’t be trusted.

If someone had offered 3/45 for Profar... he'd already be signed.


I think he would be a nice bat considering the options, we've been linked to him before, so it wouldn't surprise me.

Sherman has obviously tightened the purse strings, which blows.

We wouldn't have signed Bobby Witt Jr if Shermdog didn't want a downtown or new stadium. Kinda got lucky that ownership did the right thing for the wrong reasons.

The reason why Profar would flop would be his slugging percentage dipping back below .400.

That's been the area of his game that has held him back his entire career, not his strong plate skills like duncan idaho alluded to.

That's the thing about free agency, if you get too rational, you're going to lose the player. You have to be willing to take on risk if you want to play.

Ben Kudrna scouting report

When I saw the fastball speed I instantly wondered if he'd be an asset out of the bullpen as early as this year. The report then brought up the bullpen.

He'd probably be an excellent set up guy or even a closer. I think he'd probably help us quite a bit out of the bullpen right now and wouldn't have to work a bunch of high leverage situations at first.

Yeah I'm not sure I'd be too thrilled signing him to multiple years. He's about to turn 32 and only has 2 seasons in which he was solid.

I think he's gonna eventually going to have to take another one year deal. Hell look what happened with Moose when he became a FA. He had to take two one year deals and he was younger and Moose had a much better track record of staying healthy and producing.

I don't think there is anyway Profar gets 3/$45 mil.

Great post.

It wouldn't stunt Kudrna's development as a starter either as the recent trend has seen big league clubs move some of their most successful relievers back into the rotation, ala Reynaldo Lopez, Jordan Hicks, Michael King, Clay Holmes.

David Shields scouting report

Royals sign Cavan Biggio to a minor league deal…

Garrett Hampson with less of a bat.

How long before baseball season starts?

Biggio has a much better eye, too. He's a walk machine.

Well, i mean Biggio does have a career OPS above .700, which Hampson falls significantly short of. He also has produced consistent positive WAR throughout his career, which Hampson also has not been able to do. Last season it dipped, but hey that's what successful small market teams do right? Buy low / sell high.

On a minor league deal, too. Your persistent negativity after a season where we spent money in free agency, reached the playoffs, WON A PLAYOFF SERIES, signed our super star to a long term deal, and best of all don't have to deal with seeing the Bally Sports logo every time we watch a game.. is a little off kilter.

https://x.com/JeffPassan/status/1876...zehdsv7Aw&s=19

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen and the Kansas City Royals are in agreement on a one-year, $7 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Lorenzen, 33, was excellent down the stretch, and the deal includes a second-year mutual option for $12 million. Versatile arm, great clubhouse guy.

Good re-sign

Nice!

I like it!

I like it.

bWAR had Lorenzen at 2.6 in 2024, which makes him a great value sign considering every pitcher of any significance is going well over $10 million.

Also, I think Lorenzen's agency was marketing him as a two-way player this winter so a team could technically carry him as a position player and not be subject to pitcher limits.

Lorenzen was scouted as a two-way player in both high school at Fullerton High and college at Cal State Fullerton. He was one of the best hitting pitchers prior to the universal DH with a career .710 OPS. He slugged four HR with a 1.043 OPS in 2018.

He has 34 career MLB games in the OF, but I think it's a pipe dream. I'm curious if the Royals will let him hit in the Cactus League.

You’ll grow to hate Biggio, just give it time.

Yes please on Lorenzen.

Gavin Cross scouting report

Former Royal commits to the Athletics

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good for Brent Rooker.<br><br>He never got a real shot with the Twins. Or the Padres. Or the Royals.<br><br>But now he&#39;s coming off back-to-back 30-homer seasons and gets a big payday.<br><br>Long, bumpy road, but he turned into the exact type of slugger the Twins drafted.<a href="https://t.co/UhWcIP8SDf">https://t.co/UhWcIP8SDf</a></p>&mdash; Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) <a href="https://twitter.com/AaronGleeman/status/1876508766906323449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Lorenzen coming back is a nice depth signing. Good to have a guy like that on the big league roster... someone who can work out of the pen and be effective, rotation depth if Bubic/Marsh/Wright can't nail down the spots behind Ragans/Lugo/Wacha.

Now bring me Jurickson Profar on a one-year deal, and I'm a happy, happy man.

Don't you bring that bad juju on Wright, Duncan. He's going to be a stud for us this year and why we're going to take a bigger step forward in wins. If we manifest it, it'll happen right?

The Royals actually added guys who draw walks, never thought I'd see the day.

Hope in one hand... plan for hope to fail in the other.

It's what good GMs do...

This is hockey but Royals talked about this when they announced their TV deal.
https://www.ky3.com/2025/01/07/st-lo...air-ozarks-cw/

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="qme" dir="ltr">��<a href="https://t.co/EXcZsoeLeb">https://t.co/EXcZsoeLeb</a> <a href="https://t.co/Y6FA4H3yWl">pic.twitter.com/Y6FA4H3yWl</a></p>&mdash; Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaseballAmerica/status/1876389027836055693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I easily would have paid that for Rooker. Wish the Royals wouldve given him a shot

Blake Wolters scouting report

Our organization is still fond of players drafted and developed by Atlanta.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We have claimed INF Braden Shewmake off waivers from the Chicago White Sox.</p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1877071706478477649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Nice.

Really glad to see that!

That helps a lot for this year after trading away Singer.

Still waiting on that middle order of the bat that we were promised . . . . .

Any day now . . . . .

Angels are a reerun franchise that won't pull the trigger on deal is what I'm hearing...

Mike Trout just doesn't wanna be traded, does he? Just kidding... Gotta be all about Taylor Ward. Ward would be a nice pickup.

Baseball Prospectus unveiled its top 10 Royals prospects:

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/p...top-prospects/

The State of the System: The Royals big-league club had a surprisingly good 2024 season, but their farm system remains somewhat stagnant, especially in the realm of pitching development. There is some good news though, if you like catching prospects with offensive potential.

2024 Kansas City Royals Top Prospects

The Top Ten:

Jac Caglianone, TWP
Blake Mitchell, C
Carter Jensen, C
Noah Cameron, LHP
Ramon Ramirez, C
David Shields, LHP
Gavin Cross, OF
Javier Vaz. 2B/OF
Yandel Ricardo, SS
Frank Mozzicato, LHP

Noah Cameron scouting report