The Kansas City Royals have a lot to do this winter in order to right the wrongs of 2025, where they experienced the all too familiar fate of missing the postseason – made even more painful after their magical run to October in 2024.
The ball already seems to be rolling among the Royals front office after they already discussed the need to improve in their end-of-season press conference.
While many will see see this as the need to make additions to the roster, equally as important to any successful roster construction are the subtractions made.
One way to to accomplish this before things really get underway this winter is through non-tendering some arbitration eligible players. Thankfully for the Royals, there are several names that fit the bill of obvious contenders to be non-tendered ahead of next month’s deadline.
5 Royals players who are prime non-tender candidates this winter
LHP Bailey Falter
It’s safe to say the Bailey Falter experiment didn’t reap the rewards the Royals had hoped for when acquiring him on trade deadline day this season.
Falter threw just 12.0 innings with the Royals, two of which were starts and two of which were relief appearances after being demoted to the bullpen, before ultimately hitting the injured list at the end of August for the rest of the season. In that span, he posted a unremarkable 11.25 ERA, 5.22 FIP, 2.25 WHIP and .370 BAA.
Not only would his numbers suggest he may not be worthy of a Royals rotation spot, Kansas City already have an abundance of starting options they’ll have to sift through. And the likes of Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Noah Cameron, Kris Bubic, Stephen Kolek, Ryan Bergert and even Luinder Avila all present more intriguing upside than Falter.
With an estimated $3.3 million arbitration salary in 2026, according to MLB Trade Rumors, it seems a pretty steep price for at-best the eighth best rotation option, and would also be a bit pricey for a lackluster bullpen option as well.
LHP Sam Long
Then there’s Long, who after showing improvements in the second-half of 2025 after a respectable 2024 season, some might think he’s worth another look in 2026. After all, it’s not as if the Royals are swimming in left-handed relief options at the moment.
That being said, his second-half bounce back has to be taken with a grain of salt. While his post All-Star break 2.81 ERA is a dramatic improvement to his first half 9.82 clip, he still only mustered a 1.60 WHIP, 5.05 FIP and .282 BAA implying he got extremely lucky.
Even with just a modest estimated $950K arbitration salary for 2026, that money could feasibly be used elsewhere to bolster this ‘pen or even fund potential extensions.
RHP Kyle Wright
Next we move to Wright, who Royals fans would have hoped to have seen in the majors by now, but injuries and poor performance during rehab outings and beyond in the minor leagues have hindered his arrival.
He may be a former 20+ game winner in the majors back in 2022 with the Atlanta Braves, but major shoulder surgery in 2023 and a 5.48 ERA in the minors upon his return in 2025 work to prove that his glory days are likely behind him.
He’s projected to bare a $1.8 million arbitration salary this winter, which seems a steep price to pay or someone without a major league inning pitched in two years. Not to mention, the Royals have more starting pitching depth than they know what to do with at the moment.
RHP James McArthur
Moving to another injured arm, we have former Kansas City closer James McArthur, who spent the entirety of 2025 on the IL after undergoing elbow surgery.
McArthur lost his closing role in 2024, as the acquisition of Lucas Erceg at the 2024 trade deadline offered a clear upgrade on him. He would then only get worse in the second-half, as his 6.87 second-half ERA was a stark contrast to his first-half 3.99 mark.
Considering he only got worse after the Royals started to restructure their ‘pen and has the element of inactivity due to injury working against him, his projected $800K arbitration simply seems redundant.
OF MJ Melendez
Lastly we shift off the mound and to the outfield to arguably the Royals’ most confusing player in Melendez.
Royals fans are unfortunately all too familiar with his shortcomings at the major league level, after posting a .083/.154/.167 slash line and -14 wRC+ in his two stints in Kansas City this season.
While he showed his potential in Triple-A Omaha this year- especially late in the campaign – the Royals have been down this road time and time again with Melendez. It wouldn’t be a egregious to think that he’s exhausted all his chances with the team at the big league level.
If that’s the case, Picollo and Co. will need to ask themselves whether Melendez is worth spending $2.65 million on if he’s just to be at best a minor league depth name that could fill a bench role in a pinch if injuries arise.
It seems a smaller market team like the Royals could spend that money in better ways and allocate that 40-man roster spot to a more deserving and promising player.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kingsofkauffman.com ’
