Major League Baseball’s annual “hot stove” season officially fired up on Thursday afternoon with the start of free agency. More than 160 free agents hit the open market and became eligible to sign with any team, including the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals began their overhaul midseason with trades that sent away veteran players such as Andrew Benintendi, Cam Gallagher, Whit Merrifield and Carlos Santana, as well as youngster Emmanuel Rivera, followed by the dismissals of former president of baseball operations Dayton Moore in September, then manager Mike Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred in October.
The Royals hired a new manager in Matt Quatraro, and the search for a pitching coach is ongoing.
Executive vice president and general manager J.J. Picollo, who was handed the reins in September after Moore’s firing, and his front office lieutenants won’t exclude themselves from the hot stove this winter.
But it’s hard to imagine any moves matching the sort of upheaval the organization and roster have seen since early summer.
Here are some of the keys to remaining on top of the potential comings and goings this winter for the Royals.
Spending in free agency
The Royals ranked 24th out of 30 MLB teams in total payroll in 2022 ($105,345,711), according to Spotrac.com.
Picollo hasn’t specified a payroll figure or range for next year’s team. But during his end-of-season news conference he seemed to indicate a hesitancy to add significantly to the payroll this winter.
“(Royals CEO and Chairman) John (Sherman) and I have had this discussion, and John is willing to do what we need to do at the appropriate time,” Picollo said.
“Coming off of a season like we’ve just come off, it may not be the right time to do that. But there is a willingness and an openness. I think what we need to focus on is more infrastructure and how we build out the infrastructure. When the time is right, we’ll do what we have to do.”
It would seem unlikely that the Royals add high-priced free-agents, but they still have areas of need they’ll look to address. They simply may address them through low-risk, high-value type of signings, similar to what they’ve done in the past.
Prior to 2021, they added pitcher Mike Minor as well as Benintendi and Santana. None made more than $7.25 million that season. Benintendi came via trade, and the Boston Red Sox sent cash to help offset his salary as part of that deal.
AREAS where the Royals hope to add to their roster include:
— Starting pitchers — likely at least two candidates to make the rotation. Zack Greinke is also a free agent.
