Take this prediction to the bank: outfielders Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas will open the 2026 season with the Kansas City Royals.
Collins, acquired just days ago from Milwaukee as part of the trade that also added Nick Mears to KC’s bullpen and sent Angel Zerpa to the Brewers, and recent free agent signee Thomas, are two important components of the outfield reconstruction project designed to pump up KC’s notoriously shaky offense. Neither is destined for the minors.
Collins and Thomas represent promise. Across 389 at-bats during 2025, his first full big league season, Collins slashed .263/.368/.411, hit nine homers, and drove in 54 runs, while Thomas could help the outfield in more ways than one, including as a platoon partner in right with Jac Caglianone.
But adding and keeping them will eventually require changes to the Royals’ 40 and 26-man rosters. Although vacancies on the former allowed the club to add Collins and Thomas without corresponding moves, without cuts there won’t be enough 26-man roster slots to accommodate them for Opening Day. Without question, the Royals will have to trim their current crop of outfield-capable players.
Who are the most likely players to end up on the outside looking in when Kansas City launches its new season with a date with the Braves in Atlanta?
Drew Waters and Dairon Blanco could be the first two Royals to go
Waters, considered a major acquisition when Kansas City gave up only a draft pick to get him from Atlanta in 2022, is the leading candidate to go when it comes time to trim the roster.
He’s had a few good Kansas City moments, but his career .234/.300/.369 line, 2025 71-game .288 OBP, career 84 wRC+, and lack of power (he’s homered only 14 times in parts of four big league seasons), render him expendable. That he’s out of minor league options seals the deal.
Circumstances also don’t favor Blanco surviving as a Royal.
Yes, he’s been good for the club and it for him, but the Royals didn’t recall him from the minors after he completed a 2025 injury rehab assignment at Triple-A Omaha, and Tyler Tolbert may have the edge over him as a reserve outfielder and pinch runner.
John Rave is also a Royals roster cut candidate
The 2025 season gave Rave, Kansas City’s fifth-round pick in the 2019 amateur draft, his first shot at a big league job; unfortunately, he didn’t prove he was ready.
Promoted from Triple-A Omaha in late May, he spent all but about three weeks with the club the rest of the way, but in 72 games hit only .196 with a .283 OBP and poor 65 wRC+.
That he has a decent glove and two minor league options left suggests the Royals won’t be eager to part ways with him, but the arrivals of Collins and Thomas diminish his chances to retain a major league roster spot.
And if the club secures the services of a big outfield power bat, there won’t be room for Rave anywhere but Omaha.
Could Nick Loftin lose his Royals roster spot?
Consider Loftin the least likely of these four Royals to be cut from the regular season active roster. Yes, he slashed only .208/.278/.357 in 188 plate appearances for the big club this season, and his 142-game .220/.294/.323 major league line isn’t impressive.
But he’s versatile. Since breaking into the majors during the 2023 campaign, he’s appeared everywhere on the infield but shortstop and has 42 games under his belt in left field. Versatility is something Kansas City covets, and which Waters, Blanco, and Rave don’t possess to Loftin’s extent.
And his one remaining minor league option gives the club some flexibility.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kingsofkauffman.com ’
