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.
— Veteran hitter — likely in the outfield or third base
— Back-end-of-bullpen reliever capable of pitching in high leverage or closing
— A backup catcher who excels at working with a pitching staff
Trade possibilities
Center fielder Michael A. Taylor’s name will probably continue to float around in rumors, as it did during last summer’s MLB trade deadline.
The Royals were underwhelmed by potential suitors during the summer. They see value in having Taylor as a steady, veteran presence along with star catcher Salvador Perez in the middle of the field and in a lineup with so many young players, who could fall victim to growing pains of adjusting to the majors and the league adjusting to them.
Plus, Taylor is a free agent after this season, which means his expiring contract could theoretically be more valuable on the trade market closer to next summer’s deadline.
The number of options the Royals have who can play the corner infield or corner outfield spots makes Hunter Dozier a player the Royals could look to move, but he’s due $7.25 million this year and $9 million next year and coming off of two seasons when he slashed .226/.289/.391 combined. So that may not be a likely trade chip.
If a trade becomes the best option to acquire starting pitching candidates, then it wouldn’t be shocking for the Royals to deal prospects from their farm system in order to get that pitching.
Roster decisions
Teams must add eligible players to their 40-man roster by November 15 to avoid exposing them to the Rule 5 Draft. Players originally signed at age 18 become eligible after five seasons, while players signed at 19 years or older become eligible after four seasons.
The Royals have already made several roster moves in advance of that deadline. Thursday, they added infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor (acquired from Toronto in the Merrifield trade) and left-handed reliever Richard Lovelady to the roster and reinstated left-handed reliever Jake Brentz, left-handed starter Angel Zerpa and shortstop Adalberto Mondesi from the 60-day injured list.
They also designated catcher Sebastian Rivero for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster, which means another MLB club could claim Rivero.
In recent weeks, several players were claimed by other organizations as the Royals made room on their roster.
Left-handed reliever Gabe Speier (Seattle Mariners), right-handed reliever/starter Luke Weaver (Mariners) and right-handed reliever Tyler Zuber (Arizona Diamondbacks) were each claimed, while right-hander Ryan Weiss was sent outright to Triple-A Omaha.
Some of the Royals’ top prospects who would be eligible include outfielder Diego Hernandez, outfielder Brewer Hicklen, right-handed pitcher Alec Marsh, left-handed pitcher T.J. Sikkema (acquired from the New York Yankees in July), left-handed pitcher Anthony Veneziano,
Hernandez, March and Sikkema all rank among the Royals’ top 20 prospects according to MLBPipeline.com. Hicklen earned the Royals’ Triple-A Player of the Year award and became just the fourth Royals minor-league player since 2005 to post at least 20 doubles, 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season.
Non-tender deadline
Clubs have until November 18 to tender a contract for the 2023 season. They don’t have to actually reach an agreement with the player, but if they decide not to tender a contract to a player then the player immediately becomes a free agent.
Last November, the Royals didn’t tender Lovelady a contract but later signed him to a minor-league deal. They had made similar moves previously to keep players after non-tendering them.
However, following the 2020 season, they non-tendered third baseman Maikel Franco, who was arbitration eligible and likely to seek a sizable raise.
The group of arbitration-eligible players for the Royals this winter includes right-handed relief pitching stalwart Scott Barlow, right-handed reliever Taylor Clarke, left-handed reliever Amir Garrett, pitcher Brad Keller, infielder Nicky Lopez, Mondesi, first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn, starting pitcher Brady Singer and right-handed reliever Josh Staumont.
