Two top government officials in Kansas City, Mayor Quinton Lucas and Interim Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota, had a closed-door meeting with MO Governor Mike Kehoe to have stadium discussions.
Lucas and LeVota also emphasized a speedy end to the protracted fight over the team between Missouri and Kansas, which has dragged on for more than 18 months. Both officials said they hope to strike a stadium deal before the end of spring training, which will finish in late March.
“I hope it’s resolved before
spring training is concluded, which is kind of opening day,” Lucas said on Wednesday. “I think that what we’re all going to do is work our level best to make sure we can get there.”
That feels incredibly optimistic to me, but we’ll see.
The Effectively Wild podcast brought on fan favorites Brent Rooker and Vinnie Pasquantino to talk baseball and food.
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the MacKenzie Gore trade, the trajectories of the Rangers and Nationals since their respective World Series victories, and why the White Sox signed Seranthony Domínguez. Then (29:38) they bring on baseball buds Brent Rooker and Vinnie Pasquantino for a wide-ranging conversation about their scrapped podcasting plans, the Royals remodeling Kauffman Stadium, how Sutter Health Park played, the good and bad of bat-speed training, the challenge system, Brent’s sinking strikeout rate, the best breakfasts, the Pasqwich, A’s outfield defense, Nick Kurtz and Jac Caglianone, playing with Rich Hill, A’s extensions, playing 162 games, why they haven’t become 30-30 guys, arbitration, players’ pre-lockout messaging, an offseason signing deadline, Vinnie’s interactions with Shohei Ohtani, the WBC, the weather, and more.
Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep analyzes Nick Loftin’s chances for proving himself in the upcoming season.
There’s a lot to like with Loftin’s profile above. He ranked in the 90th percentile in above in O-Swing%, Whiff%, Z-Contact%, K%, and BB%. He also ranked in the 95th percentile in wOBA and 97th percentile in xwOBA. The latter demonstrates that his performance was legitimate and not just a product of “batted ball luck”. Lastly, he launched the ball well with Omaha (79th percentile) and pulled the ball in the air effectively (89th percentile). Those kinds of batted-ball skills, combined with his plate discipline, are exactly what the Royals are looking for in hitters, especially under new assistant hitting coaches Connor Dawson and Marcus Thames.
Unfortunately, things haven’t clicked in Kansas City for Loftin yet, as they did in Omaha last season. In 67 games and 188 plate appearances with the Royals last year, Loftin posted a .279 wOBA, 73 wRC+, and 0.1 fWAR. He also hit four home runs, scored 17 runs, and collected 20 RBI.
Baseball America has their breakout prospects for the Royals ($). These are prospects outside the top 10 that they think could vault up rankings in 2026.
Freddy Contreras, RHP
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme
Adjusted Grade: 30
Track Record: While fellow pitcher Kendry Chourio’s sensational breakout headlined the Royals’ 2025 international signing class, Contreras may not be as far behind his Dominican Summer League teammate as some expected. Contreras, who didn’t turn 17 until the final week of the DSL season, signed for $147,500 and then pitched to a 3.30 ERA with 37 strikeouts to 13 walks in 30 innings, earning a DSL all-star nod.
Scouting Report: Contreras is a lean righthander with a four-seamer that was in the low 90s early in the season, but averaged 95 mph and touched 98 by the end of the year. He commands it well and it projects as a plus offering. His 79 mph curveball has above-average potential with good spin and movement, and Contreras also has feel for an 87 mph changeup. Both secondaries generated plenty of whiffs in the DSL. Contreras is highly competitive and confident on the mound.
The Future: Given his youth, a return to the DSL would make sense for Contreras. However, the Royals haven’t shied away from aggressive assignments for teenage arms, so he very well could open 2026 in the Arizona Complex League with a solid fastball-curveball combination that gives him a high floor for his age.
Mike Gillespie at Kings of Kauffman writes that Drew Waters is probably on his last chance.
Jacob Milham also at Kings of Kauffman writes about three players whose chase rate may make it tough for them to fit in the team’s no-chase hitting philosophy.
The Royals apparently have a new sports betting partner, if you’re into that sort of thing.
MLB The Show ‘26 will not have a cover athlete. Will they just put a baseball hat? A picture of home plate? Pasquatch? I guess we’ll find out!
Apparently the Dodgers have unusually favorable (to them) terms in their current revenue sharing agreement.
Yasiel Puig is on trial for federal gambling charges ($).
Sam Darnold is going to be in a Super Bowl. Kind of a wild statement given his career arc.
Shedeur Sanders will participate in the Pro Bowl games because the NFL’s first through like 12th option was either injured or declined.
Some insight into how they make fake snow for the Winter Olympics.
Off Topic: My career is in data engineering, and thus AI is a whole big thing since the tools are getting pretty good at writing code. I know there are tons of stories of people using AI to generate slop code that they have to spend more time fixing later. But there are plenty of stories in my company of this…not happening at all. I’ve been using GenAI for code for quite some time and have found it useful. Anyone else code? What are your experiences?
Song of the Day is NOFX with Seeing Double at the Triple Rock.
