The Kansas City Royals had a disappointing 2025 season, going 82-80 and ultimately missing the playoffs. Their offense let them down and played the biggest role in their failure this season.
Both second base and left field are areas of the roster that could use some improvement. Second base in particular needs work after a down season from Jonathan India.
Ken Rosenthal, Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic reported that the Royals could non-tender or trade India, which could leave room for a bigger upgrade.
Royals Need To Upgrade Second Base
“Trading India when his salary is up and his value is down will not be easy. The free-agent options at second currently include [Gleyber] Torres and Jorge Polanco. Bo Bichette and Ha-Seong Kim also could be possibilities if they are willing to move from shortstop.”
The four options listed could all be huge upgrades for the Royals. Torres had a bounce-back year with the Detroit Tigers and earned his third All-Star nod. He would give them some right-handed pop from the second base position.
They would need to bank on Kim bouncing back from an injury-plagued season. Their best options would probably be Bichette and Polanco, however.
Bichette bounced back in 2025 and helped the Toronto Blue Jays get to the World Series for the first time since 1993. He also hit a clutch home run in Game 7 of the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Polanco helped guide the Seattle Mariners to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2001. He had the game-winning hit in Game 5 of the ALDS against the Detroit Tigers.
All options listed are solid ones for Kansas City. They could add some much-needed power to their lineup and could easily fix their issues at second base.
They also would be getting proven veterans that can help lead the clubhouse as well, with all of them having been around for several years.
It should be interesting to see where the Royals land, but all of the options listed are solid pieces and could help them bounce right back into postseason contention in 2026.
Two things are for sure. They need power in their lineup and second base is an area that could stand to have a little bit of an upgrade as the Royals look to recover from 2025.
More MLB: Royals Linked To Potential Trades With Two AL Teams For Offensive Help
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com ’
