The Kansas City Royals have at least one tricky decision to make by Friday afternoon.
Friday is the deadline for arbitration-eligible players to be tendered contracts, which means their salaries then get determined by the arbitration process unless they can agree to a deal with the team beforehand. But more importantly, there will be some players who get non-tendered, and therefore enter the free-agent pool ahead of schedule.
Royals second baseman Jonathan India was just arriving in Kansas City around this time last year. Now, he’s left wondering whether his team will pay him what the arbitration process says he’s worth to keep him around.
Should India be non-tendered?
On Wednesday, MLB Trade Rumors named India on a long list of projected non-tender candidates, and included his projected salary of $7.4 million. That figure can’t be all that far off, given the two-year, $8.8 million extension he signed with the Cincinnati Reds and the fact that he won a Rookie of the Year Award way back in 2021.
That means it’s time for a good old-fashioned pro/con argument. Why might the Royals be wise to keep him around, and why could letting him go be the best solution to the issues plaguing the roster?
It’s hard to imagine the 2026 season would go as poorly for India as 2025 did. He set career lows in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs, stolen bases, and OPS+. And he still gave the Royals some decent at-bats in the second half, after it was clear that his shoulder injury was behind him.
If the only argument to get rid of someone is money, that argument isn’t going to sway the fan base. And even though $7.4 million is no small chunk of change, it’s also not like saving that money guarantees that the Royals can either find a better second baseman in free agency, or spend it elsewhere and trade for a second baseman (which ones are even available?).
But on the flip side, the Royals have another second baseman in Michael Massey, who was good in 2024 before falling off a cliff last year. Every million dollars counts for a team with a bottom-half payroll, even if the Royals’ has climbed over the last few years.
India’s defense was also so bad this season at whichever position they tried him at that it’s hard to justify keeping him around unless they can guarantee his offense will make up for it.
The fact that it’s not an easy call doesn’t save the Royals from having to make that call. By tomorrow evening, we’ll know which way they went.
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