After a disappointing 93-loss season, Royals president of baseball operations J.J. Picollo said the team plans to be “aggressive in acquisitions.” But that aggressiveness, he cautioned, should not be confused with a willingness to spend aggressively on the payroll. He addressed the media along with manager Matt Quatraro in the team’s annual end-of-year press conference on Wednesday.
The season did not go as planned, with the team stumbling to a 12-19 start by the end of April. Picollo took addressed
the slow start by saying “we’re responsible for the performance in April and May.” He did point out the World Baseball Classic kept some Royals players away from the team during spring training, making it more difficult to build team camaraderie. And injuries made it difficult for the team to climb their way out of the hole they had dug.
“We weren’t very good in April, and we weren’t very good in the beginning of May. I can’t sit here and tell you that I know we would have been good in June, July, August, and September, but if we had had those players on our roster and healthy and available, I think we could have made a better run.”
The Royals lost key players like Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino early in the year, in addition to having their pitching staff decimated by injuries over the summer. The Royals announced changes to their medical staff, although Picollo denied the injuries were the reason for the moves. He also contended that despite all the adversity, the team has to win.
“That being said, nobody feels sorry for you. You got to go out and win.”
Here is what Picollo had to say about how he plans to address team needs this offseason.
The bullpen
“The bullpen is going to be a focus for us,” said Picollo. “There’s no question.”
Royals relievers had a 5.07 ERA, second-worst in baseball, and a league-worst 6.65 ERA in the ninth inning. The team lost closer Carlos Estévez to injury after his first game, and got disappointing performances from Lucas Erceg and Matt Strahm.
While Picollo expects the team to be aggressive, he added “I don’t want that mistaken for aggressive payroll spending.” He noted that the team was top five in spending on the bullpen over the last three years, but that spending on relievers may not be the solution due to the volatility of their performance.
“We have to look into ways at being more efficient,” he said, adding that they tried to look for that “diamond in the rough” late this year with waiver claims and small deals. They sought pitchers that presented different arm angles and pitches to give hitters varying looks.
“There’s not a clear, definitive answer on how to pull put a bullpen together. But I think the variety of ‘different looks,’ ‘different stuff’ type of relievers is the way we’re probably going to go.”
Back in August, owner John Sherman said he thought the bullpen could be “cobbled” together without spending too much money.
While Picollo highlighted the pitching of Steven Cruz and Nate Pearson down the stretch, the 2027 closer may not be on the roster right now.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to sit here today and tell you we’ll have a closer. Internally, we don’t think we necessarily have it.”
Daniel Lynch IV, who enjoyed a breakthrough season in the bullpen, will be given a chance to compete for a starting spot next year. Lynch had a 1.96 ERA in 46 relief appearances this year, and a 6.53 ERA in 10 starts.
Starting pitching
Picollo said starting depth was their biggest priority after upgrading the bullpen. He admitted that the starting pitching depth he had amassed before the season was not nearly enough.
“It was as confident as I’ve ever been in starting pitching depth,” he said before discussing the injuries that hit the pitching staff. Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, Ryan Bergert, and Stephen Kolek all missed significant time this season.
“So we’re never going to take starting pitching for granted.”
Next year’s rotation will feature Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, and Noah Cameron, but the team will have to figure out who will fill the last two spots. The team expects to pick up the option of Tony Gonsolin, the former Dodgers All-Star pitcher who was signed late in the year and pitched in one game for the Royals. He could compete for a rotation spot along with Lynch, and Randy Dobnak, who impressed with a 3.51 ERA in 15 games.
Offense
As far as the offense, Picollo liked some of the underlying things they did, but ultimately the team did not score enough runs, particularly on the road. The Royals averaged 4.26 runs per game overall, finishing 21st in baseball. That was a slight improvement over their performance in 2025 when they scored 4.02 runs per game, 26th in baseball. But they finished dead last in baseball in runs on the road, averaging just 3.62 per game.
“It’s a combination of things. It’s getting on base at a greater clip. It’s running the bases well. It’s putting the ball in play when you need to with a man in scoring position. A lot is made of batting average with runners in scoring position – for us its more about ‘did you get him in?’”
He confirmed Ken Rosenthal’s report from Tuesday that hitting coach Alec Zumwalt has been reassigned to focus more on minor league development, but Picollo clarified that this was not a reflection of performance, and had been the plan all along. Zumwalt had worked with the current core of Royals hitters in the minors, and had ascended to the big league level with them. The team wants him back working with young minor league hitters, while assistant hitting coaches Marcus Thames and Connor Dawson work with the big league hitters. The Royals will likely hire another assistant hitting coach, but Picollo backed the work of Zumwalt.
“We’re not disappointed with his performance. We think he’s a very good hitting coach.”
The team will look for offensive upgrades in the outfield. Picollo noted the outfield defense regressed this season, despite the fences at Kauffman Stadium being moved in leaving less room to cover. Outfield prospect Carson Roccaforte could be in the mix, although he is left-handed and Picollo noted that the team is already very left-handed heavy.
The team will be “open to any and all ideas” on trades, even if that means trading players on the roster. Picollo added he is not interested in trading players for prospects, given their timeline and expectations to contend.
“We need to add players that help us at the major league level.”
Spending
Picollo said he does not have a specific payroll figure, but noted that ownership has approved additional spending when he has brought forward opportunities worth pursuing.
“I’ve always felt like it’s not my job to worry about the payroll. Our job is to get the most out of whatever we have,” said Picollo, noting there are teams in the playoffs with lower payrolls than the Royals, while many teams that spent a lot are sitting at home.
“I don’t think payroll is indicative of success on the field. I think success on the field comes with knowing your roster and how to get the most out of your roster and that’s our task. That’s what we need to do.”
Sherman said in August that the team is “freeing up some money that I think we can invest,” with about $30 million expected to come off the payroll with impending free agents.
When asked about potential long-term contracts for Jac Caglianone or Carter Jensen, Picollo deferred, saying that they typically don’t seriously consider such deals until after a player’s second year of service time. Both players just completed their first full season in the big leagues, but impressed with each hitting over 20 home runs and posting an OPS+ over 120.
The Royals may have to work quickly to address their shortcomings simply because of the looming potential work stoppage. The collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1, which could lead to an end to free agent signings until a new labor deal is worked out.
“The aggressiveness in November is going to be important for us, as we expect the entire industry to be fairly busy.”
But it is clear the Royals have a lot do before the next season begins. The Royals entered 2026 expecting to build on back-to-back winning seasons. Instead, they finished with the fifth-worst record in baseball and now face significant questions in the bullpen, starting rotation and outfield. Picollo acknowledged that the fans demand more.
“It’s refreshing to know that our fans have high expectations. We want them to have high expectations, because we gave them reason to have high expectations,” said Picollo.
“With that comes to responsibility of getting it done. I think we feel pressure every year to win.”
