Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals are reportedly "casting a wide net" as they search for starting pitching help.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the Royals have expressed interest in Marcus Stroman, Lucas Giolito, Michael Wacha and Jack Flaherty in free agency.

All four pitchers are considered part of the mid tier among available starters this winter. Stroman spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Cubs, posting a 16-16 record with a 3.73 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. He was an All-Star in 2023 before struggling in the second half of the season.

Giolito played for three teams during the 2023 season. He began the year with the Chicago White Sox before being traded to the Los Angeles Angels at the deadline. When the Angels decided to shockingly jettison several veteran players when they fell out of playoff contention, Giolito linked up with the Cleveland Guardians for his final six starts of the year.

The stops in Los Angeles and Cleveland were nothing short of unmitigated disasters, as Giolito went 2-9 over his final 12 starts of the season.

Wacha is coming off a solid season in San Diego, posting a 14-4 record with a 3.22 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. While he could be playing on his sixth team in as many seasons, Wacha has settled into a quality back-end rotation piece over the last two years.

Flaherty has seen his career take a nosedive in recent years after being one of the hottest young pitchers in baseball early in his career. The St. Louis Cardinals finally gave up on Flaherty midway through last season, trading him to the Baltimore Orioles, where he would struggle and fall out of the playoff rotation.

The Royals are coming off a 56-106 season and desperately need help everywhere on their roster.

Seth Lugo is reportedly being targeted by the Kansas City Royals as the team continues its search for more starting pitchers.

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the Royals are expected to pursue Lugo, who is a free agent after opting out of his 2-year contract with the Padres.

Rosenthal noted the Royals are looking to add starting pitching, as they have just two on the roster currently in Cole Ragans and Brady Singer.

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

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The Kansas City Royals are not a big-market team, but they reportedly might act like one when it comes to signing shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to a significant contract extension.

"After free-agent shortstops Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson agreed to contracts for a combined $957 million last offseason, the Royals' chances of signing Bobby Witt Jr. to a monster extension seemed rather slim," Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote.

"They still might be. But the club is at least entertaining the idea of approaching Witt, according to a source briefed on the team's plans but not authorized to discuss them publicly."

Kansas City surely wants Witt as a franchise cornerstone, but it also doesn't necessarily have to rush a decision on his contract.

After all, he is not scheduled for unrestricted free agency until after the 2027 season. There is some value to getting out ahead of a contract decision, both for team morale and from a financial perspective if the expectation is deals will only continue to get larger, but the Royals don't have to panic and trade him if they cannot come to terms on a deal this offseason.

Keeping him long term would be ideal for the American League Central club.

Witt is just 23 years old and is coming off a career season that saw him slash .276/.319/.495 with 30 home runs, 96 RBI, 49 stolen bases and a league-best 11 triples. There is very little he cannot do offensively with his combination of power and speed.

While his defense could still use a bit of work, he took significant strides in that area last year as well.

According to FanGraphs, he was responsible for minus-18 defensive runs saved above average at shortstop as a rookie in 2022. However, he improved that to just minus-six in his second season.

If he continues on that trajectory, Witt could be among the league's top shortstops in the coming seasons.

And those seasons will all be with the Royals if he signs an extension.

Finalists for the 2023 Gold Glove Awards have been announced, and players from the Kansas City Royals are not happy.

Star catcher Salvador Pérez, third baseman Maikel Garcia and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. all took to social media on Wednesday to express their frustration at not being recognized for their defensive prowess:

The Royals didn't have a finalist for the 2022 Gold Glove Awards, either. The last Kansas City players to take home hardware for their defensive prowess were outfielders Michael A. Taylor and Andrew Benintendi in 2021. Both have since departed the team.

Perez is a five-time Gold Glove Award winner, though he hasn't won one since 2018. He has been one of the best catchers in the majors for quite some time, and he earned his eighth selection to the All-Star Game this season.

Garcia and Witt both made their major-league debuts in 2022 and have since become two of Kansas City's most important players. In addition to their impressive defensive skills, Witt hit .276 this season and Garcia hit .272, the two highest batting averages on the team among players who appeared in at least 100 games in 2023.

While the Royals have a talented crop of youngsters and a trio of defensive stars, they weren't able to find success this season. Kansas City finished last in the AL Central for the second straight season with a 56-106 record. This is the franchise's eighth straight year missing the playoffs after winning the World Series in 2015.

The Kansas City Royals revealed videos and renderings of what potential new stadiums in two possible locations—the East Village downtown area and North Kansas City—would look like on Tuesday.

"In the fall of 2021, we announced that we were undertaking a diligent, deliberate, and transparent process to explore the possibility of a new ballpark district," the team wrote in a statement announcing downtown and North Kansas City as the two locations being considered. "We said we would look at various locations across the city that will allow for residential, commercial, and community components."

In Nov. 2022, Royals chairman and CEO John Sherman wrote a letter to the organization's fans, announcing the decision to build a new stadium and leave Kauffman Stadium—which has served as the team's home since 1973—behind.

He noted at the time that maintaining Kauffman Stadium had grown difficult.

"The renovations required at The K to achieve our objectives would cost as much or more than the price tag to develop a new ballpark," Sherman said. "A new home would be a far better investment, both for the local taxpayer dollars already supporting our facility and for the Kansas City community."

The cost of the new stadium project was estimated to be around $2 billion, with about half of that coming from private investment, per the team's projections.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred threw his support behind both of the new proposed stadium locations.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for this community—forget the Royals," he told reporters. "Either of these sites are outstanding sites for a new ballpark. Either present the opportunity for entertainment district development around the ballpark."

There has been pushback in Kansas City to the project, however, with many workers worrying that the jobs the Royals are promising will be low level, poorly-paid opportunities, and concerns about the new stadium ushering in a wave of gentrification and pushing long-term residents out of their current homes as landlords raise rents.

The new stadium is expected to take around three years to complete, meaning the Royals could have new digs by the 2027 or 2028 season.

As Tuesday's MLB trade deadline approaches, a veteran Kansas City Royals star is reportedly drawing interest from around the majors.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, "the Royals have fielded calls on Salvador Perez and talked to teams, but they don't seem anxious to move him."

An eight-time All-Star, Perez has spent his entire 13-year major-league career in Kansas City, though he sat out the entire 2019 campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He is regarded as the face of the franchise after leading the Royals to a World Series title in 2015, earning World Series MVP honors that year.

The 33-year-old catcher ranks second on the team this season with 17 home runs and 44 RBI while also slashing .247/.289/.430. In a win over the Cleveland Guardians earlier this month, he became the 10th player in MLB history to hit 200 home runs as a catcher with his 240th career long ball.

At 32-75, the Royals have the second-worst record in the American League. Kansas City is believed to be a seller at this year's deadline and already traded infielder Nicky Lopez to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday in exchange for left-handed pitcher Taylor Hearn.

This will mark the eighth straight season that the Royals have missed the playoffs, so a change in scenery would be a better use of Perez's talents. He is signed through the 2025 season, so it's likely that he would prefer to compete for a championship at this stage in his career.

It remains to be seen if a team will be able to put together an offer enticing the Royals to part ways with Perez.

In the midst of a disappointing season, the Kansas City Royals are expected to be sellers at the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline. However, they're reportedly unlikely to move one of their veteran players.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, starting pitcher Zack Greinke "is expected to stay with the Royals."

Greinke has struggled mightily this season with a 1-10 record, a 5.40 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP across 19 starts. It's the second time in his career that he's had an ERA over 5.00, the last time coming in his second year in the majors in 2005 when he finished with a 5.80 in 33 starts.

The 39-year-old is in his second season back in Kansas City, where he spent the first seven years of his major-league career. A six-time All-Star, he's also taken the mound for the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros.

At 29-73, the Royals have the second-worst record in the majors ahead of only the Oakland Athletics (28-74). Passan listed multiple relievers as Kansas City's top trade candidates:

"Scott Barlow of the Kansas City Royals would be a name add for a contender in need of bullpen help. Barlow has lost nearly 3 mph off his peak fastball velocity and now relies more on his slider than his heater. His stock has plummeted to the point where a number of teams would rather have flamethrowing right-hander Carlos Hernández if Kansas City does deal from its bullpen. Free agent-to-be Brad Keller -- out since May and now on a rehab assignment -- could move as well."

Greinke is scheduled to start for the Royals when they face the Cleveland Guardians (49-51) in the second matchup of their three-game series on Tuesday.

The market for Kansas City Royals star Salvador Pérez has been "quiet" ahead of the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline, according to MLB Network's Jon Morosi.

Royals general manager J.J. Picollo emphatically stated in June that the Royals "don't have any intention of trading Salvy."

"It's not something we're looking to do. But it doesn't mean that teams won't ask about him," he told reporters. "I will confirm the report was accurate, that the team called and asked about him. But unfortunately, it was leaked. Those conversations should remain private. In this case, it didn't. The unfortunate thing is, he's a player on our team, he's trying to lead our team."

Beyond the fact Pérez is the most tenured member of the roster, a few elements likely limit what Kansas City could get back in a trade.

The 33-year-old is signed for at least two more seasons and will earn $42 million, and he has a club option for 2026 worth $13.5 million with a $2 million buyout as well. That's not an insignificant chunk of change for an aging player at the catcher position.

Pérez's production this season isn't helping on that front. Through the first half of the season, he has a .246/.289/.435 slash line, and his 98 OPS+ is on pace to be his lowest since 2018, per Baseball Reference.

When it comes to a trade, the ball is entirely in the eight-time All-Star's court, which further complicates matters.

MLB players with 10 total years of service time along with at least five consecutive years on the same team are granted veto rights on any trade. Pérez doesn't have the luxury of handpicking his next destination, but he can at least decide where he doesn't want to play.

The Royals are last in the American League Central at 26-65. It's only a matter of time before they're mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, so flipping Pérez for a haul of prospects would help to further their long-term goals.

However, there's a symbolic value to keeping a player as beloved by fans as the five-time Gold Glove winner. Picollo described him as a "Royals icon" when naming him the team captain ahead of the season. Only three other players in franchise history had earned the captain designation.

An experienced catcher can also be hugely beneficial to a young pitching staff. Kansas City's inability to properly develop its pitchers is a big reason why the team's rebuild is extending in perpetuity.

Removing Pérez from the equation may not help on that front.

In the midst of a strong bounce-back season, Aroldis Chapman will look to shore up the Texas Rangers bullpen for the stretch run after being acquired from the Kansas City Royals.

Per the Texas Rangers PR Department, the Royals will receive left-handed pitcher Cole Ragans and minor league outfielder Roni Cabrera from the Rangers in exchange for the seven-time All-Star.

Chapman looked to be on the decline during a rough 2022 season with the New York Yankees. He had a career-high 4.46 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 28 walks over 36.1 innings in 43 appearances.

The Yankees left Chapman off their roster for the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians after he missed a mandatory team workout.

Chapman was still throwing hard by normal standards in 2022, but his average fastball velocity of 97.7 mph was tied for the lowest rate of his career (2012).

Kansas City signed Chapman to a one-year prove-it deal in January as a free agent. He's looked much closer to what he did in his prime years with a 2.45 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 29.1 innings.

Even though it's a small sample of innings, Chapman's stuff has looked much better in 2023 than it has in a long time. The 35-year-old's fastball is averaging 99.4 mph, his best since 2017 (100.1 mph).

Per BaseballSavant.com, Chapman is generating groundballs 44.9 percent of the time when the opposing hitter puts the ball in play. It's his highest rate since 2018 (46.4 percent).

Opposing hitters only have a 2.0 percent barrel rate against Chapman, his second-lowest rate of the Statcast era (1.8 percent in 2016).

The Royals certainly hoped Chapman would rediscover his All-Star form and help turn them into a playoff contender this season. Things have gone well for him, but not so much for the team.

Kansas City's 23-58 record is the second-worst in MLB, ahead of only the Oakland Athletics. The rest of this season should be about evaluating players who can help the Royals in 2024 and beyond.

Chapman was going to be a free agent this winter. His age didn't make him a long-term option for the Royals. Moving on at this point allowed them to recoup future value for him, while the Rangers gets a shutdown reliever who can potentially swing a playoff series.

Aroldis Chapman revived his career in a few short months in Kansas City, and now the Royals are looking to take advantage of the turnaround ahead of the August 1 MLB trade deadline.

Levi Weaver and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the Royals are giving teams interested in trading for Chapman the option of trading a high-caliber prospect for the flamethrower or potentially taking on unwanted salary as part of a deal.

Catcher Salvador Perez and reliever Scott Barlow were mentioned as potential players who could be packaged with Chapman.

A seven-time All-Star, Chapman signed a one-year, $3.8 million contract with the Royals this winter after an ugly end to his stint with the New York Yankees. He's been largely stellar since his arrival, compiling a 1-2 record with a 2.95 ERA and 1.36 WHIP while striking out 35 batters in 21.1 innings pitched.

While he's not pitching at the level of his Cincinnati apex—Chapman is still walking too many batters—he's seen his velocity increase across the board after a miserable 2022 season. The Yankees left Chapman off their postseason roster amid his struggles last October, and now it appears he'll be a key acquisition for a team looking to make its own playoff run this year.

Chapman's average exit velocity on batted balls and barrel percentage have also seen massive dips in 2023, a sign his stuff has rounded back into form—if not his control. His 15.3 walk percentage ranks in the bottom-three percentile in baseball, but nearly every other metric would peg him among the best relievers in the sport.

It's unlikely the Royals will ask for a truly top-flight prospect in trade talks, so the risk will be minimal, but Chapman's control issues are worth noting as the pressure ramps up late in the season.