The season didn’t go as planned for the Kansas City Royals. Still, just because they didn’t make the playoffs, it doesn’t mean there weren’t plenty of top-notch individual performances among some of the team’s stars.
Award season has officially started with the unveiling of the list of players eligible for the All-MLB Team. In addition to that group, there are the more traditional awards, such as MVP and rookie of the year. There are at least a few Royals players who merit consideration.
Bobby Witt Jr. could be an MVP finalist once again
The slugging star shortstop almost got himself the AL MVP last season, but fell just short of Aaron Judge and his prodigious power.
This year, Bobby Witt Jr. had arguably a worse season offensively (slashing .295/.351/.501/.852 with 23 homers) at least when it comes to home runs. However, he finished the 2025 campaign with the fourth-best WAR in all of baseball.
The problem is that Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge have gotten all the attention, and their teams made the playoffs.
Maikel Garcia could sneak in some AL MVP votes
If there was a Royals player that was an odds-on favorite for MVP, it would likely be Bobby Witt Jr. Still, Maikel Garcia could at least garner some votes with a career-best season (slashing .286/.351/.449 with 16 homers) that was his career best season despite a September that was quite disappointing.
Garcia logged the second highest fWAR of any third baseman, thanks to his aforementioned encellent offense along with some world class defense. This accomplishment would catch even the most dedicated baseball fan by surprise.
There’s likely no path for him to win the award due to the play of Raleigh, Judge and even his teammate Witt Jr., but getting votes would be quite the coup all on its own.
Noah Cameron made a strong case for Rookie of the Year
The AL Rookie of the Year could very well be locked up as well, due to the rise of the Athletics’ youngster Nick Kurtz. However, Noah Cameron has to be considered one of the top challengers to Kurtz.
His story is fascinating since it doesn’t feel like anyone thought he would be quite as good as he was. Cameron was an emergency call up who was brilliant from the get-go and showed plenty of patience when he was sent back down early in the summer.
When he returned to the Kansas City Royals, he picked up right where he left off and finished his first MLB campaign with a 9-7 record and a sterling 2.99 earned run average. He too may not win it, but If anyone on this list does happen take home some hardware this fall, it likely stands to be Cameron.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kingsofkauffman.com ’
