1 heavyweight, middleweight, lightweight target to sustain Royals’ winter momentum

The Kansas City Royals have been busy this offseason, addressing several key needs to help fuel their competitive window and hopefully return to the postseason once again in 2026.

However, despite multiple additions to the outfield, bullpen and overall depth, as well as extensions to both the core of the lineup and the coaching staff, the overall consensus amongst the fanbase is that the work is far from over.

Kansas City could still use several additional names this winter to help overcome their shortcomings ahead of Opening Day 2026.

Do they all have to be for certified stars? No.

However, they do all need to be impactful. And luckily for the Royals, even at this stage of the offseason, across every skill level of remaining potential targets, there’s impact to be had.

1 heavyweight target for Royals that would sustain offseason momentum

Brendan Donovan – Second Baseman/Corner Outfielder

There’s been no shortage of speculation liking the Royals to the Cardinals dynamic All-Star utility man this winter, and there’s good reason for that.

Donovan and his ability to more than adequately address two of the Royals most glaring needs right now makes him the perfect fit. He can play second base, where Jonathan India and Michael Massey haven’t exactly locked down the position themselves, while also being very capable in the corner outfield, offering more full-time stability compared to their existing options as well as their new options in Lane Thomas and Isaac Collins.

And we’re not only talking about a positionally versatile player, we’re talking about a high-level bat that regardless of where he plays in the field, can fit in seamlessly among the heart of this Royals order.

In four consecutive seasons, he’s hit above .275, posted an OPS north of .770, struck out a clip no higher than 15.0% and posted a wRC+ mark no lower than 115.

Perhaps he’s the ideal candidate to fill the Royals much needed leadoff role?

1 middleweight target for Royals that would sustain offseason momentum

Danny Coulombe – Left-Handed Relief Pitcher

Now, humor me here for a moment. While we may be using weight classifications commonly utilized by combat sports here, it’s clear they pertain to skill level and not physical weight classes.

But ironically enough, I think the middleweight division of the UFC can accurately describe how Danny Coloumbe is an underrated middle-of-the-road free agent target for the Royals this winter.

In the UFC middleweight division, you have your heavy hitters like current champ Khamzat Chimaev, and former champ No. 1 contender Dricus Du Plessis, but then after that there are a series of guys that have a lot of potential to be great, or have been great at one point that can still have an impact on the division.

While there are more well-known names like former champions Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya, smack dab amongst them are names that have been slept on but when you look at their matchups, they’ve consistently gotten the job done and deserve to be at least in the contender conversation, like No. 5 ranked Brendan Allen.

Now, time to tie things back to baseball. Danny Coulombe has a lot of similarities from a baseball perspective to Brendan Allen from a UFC middleweight division perspective in terms of being slept on despite consistently posting results.

While he may be a bit of journeyman reliever, that hasn’t stopped the 36-year-old Coulombe from being one of the leagues most consistent southpaws out of the ‘pen.

He’s coming off his fourth season with a sub-3.00 ERA and with a BAA no higher than .230, as well as his third season with a WHIP no higher than 1.16.

Kansas City addressed their need for high-leverage left-handed relief pitching by trading for set-up man Matt Strahm last month. But beyond Strahm they look a little unconvincing in the southpaw department with Daniel Lynch IV and Bailey Falter, opening the door for an arm like Coulombe to take a firm hold on that left-handed middle relief role.

1 lightweight target for Royals that would sustain offseason momentum

Reese McGuire – Catcher

Of all the positions worthy of a lightweight impactful decision, the third catcher’s role might take the take as the most deserving.

There’s no need to set your sights on making a splash here, as to be honest, it might not even be possible to do so even if you were to try.

The third catcher’s role is just about finding someone who’s proven to be a capable big league catcher when called upon, but just shouldn’t be called upon in a starter’s capacity.

McGuire, is above average (over the 50th percentile) across the board defensively in framing, pop time, blocks above average and caught stealing above average.

And offensively, his 86 wRC+ wasn’t great by any means, but for a bench piece it isn’t the worst clip in the world. On top of that, he was able to showcase some decent power with nine homers and .444 SLG while keeping the strikeouts to a minimum with a sub-20% K-rate in 45 games with the Chicago Cubs in 2025.

The Royals don’t need the world out of their third catcher, with captain Salvador Perez and potential Rookie of the Year candidate Carter Jensen at the top of the depth chart, making a perennial bench piece like McGuire all the more fitting.