Kansas City Royals news: Missouri ballpark funding facing legal challenge

Plus, Tim Collins is making a comeback!

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Two Missouri lawmakers are suing to stop a law that would help the state fund a potential new Royals ballpark.

The lawsuit was filed in July by Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, Rep. Bryant Wolfin, a St. Genevieve Republican and conservative activist Ron Calzone, who argue that the law is unconstitutional and should be struck down.

Limbaugh did not rule on the merits of the lawsuit on Friday, but the case could have broader implications on Missouri’s efforts to keep the Royals inside state lines.

The law, approved by state lawmakers last summer, served as Missouri’s bid to prevent the Royals and Kansas City Chiefs from moving to Kansas.

Moon, the lead plaintiff in the case, told The Star after the hearing that he supported the Royals remaining in Missouri, but that decision should not be left up to the state’s taxpayers.

“I think it’s great for the state to have them,” said Moon, who voted against the law in the Senate. “But it’s a choice that they need to make and it’s not up to the legislature to give public money to a private entity in order to tease them to stay here.”

Craig Brown wonders if the Royals could pursue Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner.

That is something that could be appealing to the Royals. Hoerner has appeared in over 150 games in each of the last three seasons for the Cubs and owns a career .282/.340/.384 while playing some great defense at the keystone. He doesn’t pack a lot of punch, but does make exceptional contact. He’s a great baserunner as well. Hoerner has averaged over 4 fWAR in these three seasons.

Hoerner will earn $12 million in 2026, the final year of a three-year deal he signed with the Cubs back in 2023 that kicked in for the 2024 season. The Royals would need to free up space by moving Jonathan India, but given the quality of upgrade Hoerner would bring to Kansas City, this is something the club should seriously be exploring. If the Cubs are willing to move Hoerner.

Preston Farr considers a Vinnie Pasquantino extension.

While a Pasquantino extension wouldn’t surprise me, I would expect it to be more of a “pay it forward” type of deal similar to what the Royals gave Cole Ragans. In that contract, Kansas City didn’t buy out any free agent years or extend any club control. Instead, they simply paid it forward, agreeing to a three-year, $13.25 million contract encompassing all of Ragans’ arbitration eligible seasons. Doing similar for Vinnie would make a lot of sense. It allows you to reward the player for strong performance without diving deep into the risk or value of free agent years.

For all those reasons, I see a potential Pasquantino “extension” in the ballpark of three-years, $17 million with escalators for any MVP award finish. It’s not an easy situation to navigate, especially for a player that’s become the heart and soul of this lineup. He’s firmly entrenched as a key piece of the lineup, and that always carries a value that wRC+ and fWAR alone cannot fully reflect.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep proposes some Royals/Yankees trade ideas.

The Cubs sign Alex Bregman to a five-year, $175 million deal.

The Red Sox are left scrambling to fill the void of Bregman.

The Rockies acquire outfielder Jake McCarthy from the Diamondbacks.

The Braves sign reliever Tyler Kinley to a one-year, $4.5 million contract.

The Blue Jays sign outfielder Eloy Jimenez to a minor league deal.

The Reds sign reliever Pierce Johnson to a one-year contract.

They also sign former Royals Garrett Hampson and Josh Staumont to minor league deals.

Former Royals reliever Tim Collins is attempting a comeback at age 36.

Talks between the Yankees and Cody Bellinger are reportedly at an impasse.

The Padres are looking for starting pitching.

Freddie Freeman pulls out of the World Baseball Classic for personal reasons.