David Lesky looks at what Kansas City Royals extending outfielder Jac Caglianone could look like, but there is important context outside the numbers.
I don’t think we can pretend there aren’t still holes in Caglianone’s game. We don’t really know where his long-term defensive home will be. The eye test and the metrics showed he was a much-improved right fielder early in the year, but when he shifted to first base for a bit while Vinnie Pasquantino was hurt, he struggled there and then struggled again
in the outfield upon his return. Does that suggest the improved defense was a small sample, or that if they left him alone, he’d figure it out? He’s not a bad athlete. He doesn’t have great sprint speed, but his arm is such a weapon that it almost feels like a shame to waste it at first base.
But his positional ambiguity certainly makes him a tougher case when looking at comps. I’ll tell you right now that Caglianone’s team will want to market him as a right fielder while the Royals would save money if they viewed him as a first baseman. Since this would be a negotiation between team and player, I don’t think it’ll get to a point where they need to present that, but the numbers are different for a corner outfielder vs. a first baseman.
Baseball America ranks Royals prospect Zion Rose as the hottest AFL prospect over the past week. Rose was also named AFL Hitter of the Week for his performance.
It’s always exciting when recent first-round picks or international signings make early-career appearances in the Arizona Fall League. The Royals have provided prospect hounds following the Fall League with a double dose, thanks to Angeibel Gomez and Zion Rose. The latter had his best week of the AFL season, as he reached base 12 times in 20 plate appearances and stole six bases without being caught. Rose has stood out for his ability to get on base and put pressure on the defense with his speed. He’s struggled against velocity at times in AFL play but, overall, he’s been highly productive, hitting .328/.494/.517 with two home runs in 15 games. Rose ranks sixth in on-base percentage, eighth in OPS and fifth in steals. In many ways, those marks perfectly encapsulate Rose’s strengths as a player.
MLB.com names pitcher Lucas Braun as Kansas City’s 2027 Rookie of the Year candidate.
Braun’s stuff is never going to wow anyone, but he’s spent the past three years at the upper levels and is ready for a shot. He scuffled a bit after getting dealt from the Braves to the Royals at the Trade Deadline, but he’s been a very durable starter, topping 140 IP twice in the last two years (over 130 IP this past season) and could be a very solid inning-eating back-end starter in 2027.
Royals Keep’s Brian Shrum argues southpaw Gregory Soto would be a good free agent fit.
When hitters did manage to put the ball in play against him, they struggled to lift it, as shown by Soto’s 46.1% ground-ball rate. The Royals have a highly capable defensive infield backed by Maikel Garcia, Bobby Witt Jr., Michael Massey and Vinnie Pasquantino, who are all built to maximize a ground-ball pitcher’s effectiveness. Putting a heavy sinker lefty in front of Kansas City’s talented defensive infield is a great recipe for quick, efficient outs.
While premier closing pitchers and late-inning bullpen arms demand high-dollar contracts, Soto sits in a sweet spot as an impactful yet realistic target. Soto will likely fetch a multi-year contract somewhere in the range of $8-$10 million per season this winter. If the Royals want the opposite of what happened to them last season with the bullpen, making Soto an offer would be a step in the right direction.
FanGraphs’ Ben Clemens looks at what changed around Royals starter Michael Wacha as the home runs spiked in 2026.
The point I was trying to make isn’t the specific values; it’s that the biggest change in Wacha’s home run suppression was not his home park but the change in contact allowed relative to what you’d expect from the shape and location of his pitches.
There’s no reason to expect anyone to be as good at this skill as Wacha was in 2024 and 2025. For example, he wasn’t nearly that good at the skill in the previous years of his career, when his xbotHR and actual home runs allowed were roughly equal. So if you’re forecasting how many homers Wacha will allow next year, you probably shouldn’t ascribe some kind of outlier contact suppression value. And in fact, Steamer projects him for 28 homers allowed in 2027, and it projected him for 26 this year. Maybe I was wracking my brain for reasons Wacha was beating the odds when the real reason was just random variation and short-term swings that don’t stick in the long run; both my breakdown and Steamer’s projections sure seem to think that way, at least.
Kings of Kauffman’s Matthew Swigonski argues the Royals should feel some déjà vu right now.
“Our outfield hasn’t been as productive as we needed it to be over the last two or three years,” Picollo said ahead of the 2025 GM Meetings. “We’re back at it again, trying to figure things out.”
Well, a year later and Picollo and the Royals find themselves in the same position. The team’s outfield graded out as one of the weakest aspects of the entire roster this year. Outside of Jac Caglianone, the Royals’ outfield offered the team very little in terms of offensive production throughout the 2026 season. That doesn’t mean that Picollo didn’t try to make changes last offseason. He just didn’t make the right changes.
Lance Brozdowski makes the case for former Royals pitcher Kris Bubic landing with the Tampa Bay Rays on a two-year deal worth $28 million.
His changeup has elite vertical separation from his four-seamer and doesn’t sacrifice zone rate in doing so. In 2025, it had a 39% whiff rate and a 68% ground-ball rate. He mixes that with an ability to create depth at velocity on his breaking balls. He’s throwing both his sweeper and short slider ~1 mph harder than the average for a lefty starter and generating 2-4” more drop. Neither of those pitches has performed as well as the underlying shapes indicate, but they’re both good offerings.
It’s going to take a risk-tolerant team to pay Bubic, but there are several of those in MLB. Teams like the Dodgers and Rays have shown a tendency to embrace variance with past deals. The “what do you get when you win” with Bubic is better than many of the arms priced below $15 million per year. That said, I do think Clemens’ $17 million per year is a bit inflated for a pitcher with his health track record. A 110-inning, 3.50-ERA season with strong peripherals will create surplus value. Anything better could pay off this contract in one season.
An Adalberto Mondesi update? In 2026? The Athletic talked about the former Kansas City infielder, now 31.
Despite last appearing in a game in 2022, infielder Adalberto Mondesí is attempting a comeback. Mondesí, 31, recently started playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic. Over the past few years, lower-body injuries played a role in derailing his career.
The San Diego Padres are targeting multiple Japanese-born players as acquisitions via free agency or trade this offseason.
The Atlanta Braves are reportedly not interested in moving Ronald Acuña Jr. this offseason.
The Athletic reports the Los Angeles Angels search for a new head of baseball operations is akin to speed dating as they cast a wide net.
Milwaukee Brewers players recount the wisdom, wit, and humor of their manager Pat Murphy.
The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen looks under the hoodof Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle’s Rookie of the Year campaign.
FanGraphs’ Dan Szymborski sets the table for ZiPS in 2027, reminding users it “isn’t mathemagical.”
Joe Posnanski looks at the history and meaning behind the 60 feet 6 inches pitching distance.
Where do the Minnesota Vikings go after a horrendous Monday Night Football showing?
The NFL trade deadline is seeing some more juice in recent years.
Sunlife U.S. and the Royals run down another year of Royal Moves, a four-week wellness program designed to help kids embrace health and fitness.
Missouri is struggling with support from hunters to monitor the spread of chronic wasting disease among the state’s white-tailed deer population.
One Iowa farm made an unorthodox shift with the help of The Transfarmation Project.
University of Kansas Athletics continues to not disclose how much they pay their student-athletes, despite multiple challenges or requests for information.
Today’s song of the day is Frostbite by Waylon Wyatt.
My note on today:
As you read this on November 11, 2026, today marks Veterans Day. The day falls on this date each year to remember the end of World War 1, 108 years ago. “The war to end all wars” formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the Armistice of Compiègne. That time period and the people who shaped it feel so far away, but people around the world still recognize Veterans Day or an equivalent holiday to mark the end of this war.
There is a difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day; just remember. Veterans Day recognizes the living and deceased among us who served in wartime or peacetime. I remember in elementary school, there at St. George Elementary, old World War II veterans would come and talk to the class or help us with remembrances in the days leading up to Veterans Day. Like many children, I imagine, I thought those veterans would always be around. I knew World War II was bad, so they could make it through anything. But I think of veterans from that era, including the Korean War, and none are still here. All taken by old age despite dodging the reaper on foreign shores decades before. That feeling has some reality, as of the 15.8 million veterans the U.S. Census Bureau reported back in 2023, only 0.6%, or 94,800, were from World War II.
I remember them so vividly not because of medals or scars or what rank they were. There was a light in their eyes when they spoke about what they could to young ears, trying to paint a grim and deadly scene through PG-rated lenses. To them, I think Charles Dickens’ opening to A Tale of Two Cities is appropriate. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The light I talked about illuminated the parts they may have taken for granted: the brotherhood they never found again, the life purpose that they never quite reached, or the sanity and well-being they had before going into a war-torn setting.
I wonder if that will ever be me one day. This Veterans Day marks my last of active-duty service, after joining the Navy in January 2015 and separating this month. It is an uncertain time, but one that I am willing to enter and happy to find who Jacob Milham is outside MC1 Milham.
Will I be the one who sits in the diner booth, letting my coffee go cold as I reminisce about my days at Diego Garcia? How will I remember my destroyer days, from earning my sea legs to telling the stories of Sailors from all walks of life? Will I be the plankowner who returns to CVN 79 long after the PCU title is swapped for USS, that of a commissioned vessel? The answer is that I don’t know. But I do know that I ponder this and already know I am not the only one out there who has faced this uncertainty or these questions.
Being able to look on the calendar and see when I will move from one side of the aisle to another, I know this: talk to a veteran you know. Don’t assume anything; don’t expect a star-spangled story that is akin to a Prime Video show. Just ask them what they remember the most from service, and listen. Have a conversation with them. Let that light come back to their eyes for a moment, and you just might learn a thing or two about a thing or two.
To all the veterans out there, may you feel seen, heard, and cared for this Veterans Day. You have come from all walks of life to serve a purpose, while facing adversity and strife both abroad and at home. Reach out to your battle buddies, shipmates, squadmates, and those you served alongside, no matter the setting.
This day can be emotionally charged. If today or ever veterans in your life need help, call 988, then press 1, or text 838255 for free, confidential support 24/7, 365 days a year. You can find more information at https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/.
