The Royals won 82 games last year, five games out of a playoff spot and four games worse than they were in 2025. It was tantalizingly close, and the reason they fell short seemed easy enough to identify – outfield offensive production. Royals outfielders collectively hit .225/.285/.348, a 73 wRC+ mark that was easily the worst in baseball.
So the goal of the offseason seemed clear. Get some outfielders that can hit! And the Royals didn’t just sit on their hands. J.J. Picollo did make a shrewd trade
to get Isaac Collins from the Brewers, a promising on-base machine who hit .263/.368/.411 in his rookie campaign. He also signed Lane Thomas to a one-year deal, hoping he can bounce back from a lousy 2025 season and return to his 2023 form, when he hit 28 home runs. The Royals also acquired Kameron Misner, a Missouri product with solid minor league numbers who has hit just .203 in 79 MLB games. Oh, and they moved in the fences!
And that’s it.
There were plenty of trade rumors. Jarren Duran. Teoscar Hernández. Jake Meyers. There were rumors that they were interested in free agents Harrison Bader and Austin Hays.
There were certainly other outfielders available. Maybe Cody Bellinger (five years, $162.5 million) was too rich for their blood. But there were plenty of options in their wheelhouse.
- Mike Yastrzemski signed a two-year, $23 million deal with the Braves
- Bader signed a two-year, $20.5 million deal with the Giants
- Willi Castro signed a two-year, $18 million deal with the Rockies
- Adolis Garcia signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Phillies
- Rob Refsnyder signed a one-year, $6.25 million deal with the Mariners
- Cedric Mullins signed a one-year, $7.5 million deal with the Rays
- Hays signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the White Sox
- Miguel Andujar signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Reds
- Jake Fraley signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Rays
- Mike Tauchman signed a minor league deal with the White Sox
- Michael Conforto signed a minor league deal with the Cubs
And there were outfielders that were traded.
- The Orioles acquired Taylor Ward from the Angels for Grayson Rodriguez
- The Athletics acquired Jeff McNeil from the Mets for Jordan Rodriguez
- The Pirates acquired Jake Mangum, and the Rays acquired Jacob Melton in a three-team trade with the Astros
- The Angels acquired Josh Lowe from the Rays in a three-team trade for Brock Burke
- The Mets acquired Luis Robert Jr. from the White Sox for Truman Pauley and Luisangel Acuña
- The Blue Jays acquired Jesús Sánchez from the Astros for Joey Loperfido
The Royals were reportedly willing to deal from their surplus of pitching (which some say is the currency of baseball!), but could not find a deal to their liking.
Some restraint is understandable. The Royals passed on last year’s outfield free agent class, and those players largely turned into pumpkins in 2025. Better to make no move than panic and make an ill-advised signing that saddles the payroll for years, or a trade you end up regretting.
But perfect should not be the enemy of good. It would not take much to upgrade the Royals outfield. Of the 145 qualified hitters last year, 141 out-hit Royals outfielders. What is even more curious is the Royals have not brought in a single veteran outfielder on a minor league deal to compete for a spot. Sure, these kinds of players are the dregs of the free agent market, but sometimes they show they have something left in the tank, and the cost is negligible.
Perhaps the Royals still have a move left in them. Spring training trades are not uncommon, and if pitchers start getting hurt in camp, teams may come to the Royals desperate to build pitching depth and willing to give up an outfielder.
Perhaps the Royals are hoping to make do with what they have to start the year and explore better opportunities this summer. Last year, they were able to make substantial upgrades at the trade deadline, acquiring Yasztreski, Adam Frazier, and Randall Grichuk without giving up much of anything.
Perhaps they have tied their season to Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen. If the offense is to improve, it will be due to the development of their two most promising young hitters, not some declining veteran who, at best, improves things at the margin.
But when you’re competing for a playoff spot, the margins matter. The Royals fell just short of the postseason last year. Could another bat earlier in the year have made a difference?
The Royals are not wrong to avoid panic. They are not wrong to protect payroll flexibility. And they are not wrong to believe in internal growth. But Dodgers executive Andrew Friedman once said, “If you’re always rational about every free agent, you’re going to finish third on every free agent.”
The Royals have a potential Hall of Famer in Bobby Witt Jr. in his prime. They have another potential Hall of Famer in Salvador Perez, still in his productive years. They have some exciting All-Star caliber hitters in Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino. They have one of the best starting rotations in baseball. They have three shutdown relievers in Matt Strahm, Lucas Erceg, and Carlos Estévez.
The opportunity is there. The Royals need to seize it.
