Take the Royals to contention?
The Royals surprised the baseball world, improving by 30 wins and reaching the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons. But as Bobby Witt Jr. put it “they didn’t get this far just to get this far”, and the team has designs on being a true contender for a title.
Getting there may prove to be more difficult than simply improving a bad team. The Royals have a terrific starting rotation, but injuries could change that in a hurry. The lineup and bullpen have some strengths, but also some holes. And while ownership has been willing to spend, there are financial limitations for any small market team.
What would you do if you were running the Royals this offseason?
The Royals currently have 34 players on the 40-man roster.
Catchers (2): Freddie Fermin, Salvador Perez
Infielders (6): Maikel Garcia, Nick Loftin, Michael Massey, Vinnie Pasquantino, Nick Pratto, Bobby Witt Jr.
Outfielders (7): Dairon Blanco, Tyler Gentry, Kyle Isbel, MJ Melendez, Hunter Renfroe, Nelson Velázquez, Drew Waters
Pitchers (19): Jonathan Bowlan, Kris Bubic, Steven Cruz, Lucas Erceg, Hunter Harvey, Carlos Hernández, Sam Long, Seth Lugo, Daniel Lynch IV, Alec Marsh, James McArthur, Cole Ragans, John Schreiber, Brady Singer, Evan Sisk, Chris Stratton, Michael Wacha, Kyle Wright, Angel Zerpa
Luinder Avila, Noah Cameron, Eric Cerantola, Chandler Champlain, Austin Cox, and Tyson Guerrero are all candidates to added to the roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.
You have six players under contract for next year:
That plus a $2.5 million buyout for Adam Frazier totals $75.6 million. The Royals also have nine arbitration-eligible players with the following projected salaries:
Those salaries would total just under $26 million. The rest of the remaining salaries on the team would total close to $10 million, putting payroll just over $110 million. Last year’s Opening payroll was $115 million, and J.J. Picollo says he expects the same kind of financial flexibility from ownership this year.
Would you non-tender any players? Would you have the Royals active in free agency? You can find a list of free agents here. Would you have the Royals active on the trade market? You can use the Trade Simulator at Baseball Trade Values to get an idea of what would be a fair trade. How would you get the Royals to become true contenders?
