Carlos Beltrán HOF, Vinnie Pasquantino contract, Carlos Santana D-backs

With spring training just around the corner, World Baseball Classic rosters being announced and the final free agent signings and trades being made before baseball action moves from the rumor mill to the field, there’s been plenty of news of late to satisfy the palates of baseball fans.

However, there’s plenty of other news stories that Kansas City Royals fans should be aware of this week that may’ve flown under-the-radar, from Hall of Fame decisions, to contract extension details being revealed, to old friends finding new homes.

Royals News: Carlos Beltrán opts to enter Hall of Fame wearing Mets cap

After being announced to the Hall of Fame last month, the only thing left for Carlos Beltrán to do was to decide what team he’d be donning the cap of when he officially entered Cooperstown.

And this week that decision was made, and although there was potentially a case to be made for Royals here, Beltrán ultimately took the expected route and chose to go in as a New York Met.

Again it’s no shock that the Mets were his choice here.

Despite spending parts of seven seasons in Kansas Cty, apart from his 1999 AL Rookie of the Year Award, his award-winning career was forged elsewhere.

And at the end of the day, the only team that he appeared in more games for than the Royals were the Mets. In 3640 games in Queens, Beltrán slashed .280/.369/.500 with 149 HR, 559 RBI, was a 5-time All-Star and won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger awards.

Still though, knowing the Royals have their second most prominent Hall of Famer being enshrined in Cooperstown next month is exciting enough, even if the first thing you see on his plaque is a Mets cap.

Royals News: Vinnie Pasquantino’s new contract incentive details surface

After avoiding a potentially awkward arbitration hearing this month by agreeing a two-year, $11.1 million guaranteed extension, more details have surfaced about Vinnie Pasquantino’s new deal this week.

As reported by Anne Rogers of MLB.com over the weekend when the deal was agreed to, Pasquantino’s extension had the opportunity to escalate to $15.7 million with incentives.

And earlier this week, Jon Heyman of the celebrity.land reported some of the details of the incentives that the Pasquatch could receive.

In 2027, should Pasquantino exceed 450, 500 and 550 plate appearances, he’ll receive an extra $200,000 at each threshold.

This is likely put in place due to his injury concerns from 2023, when he season was cut short after just 61 games and 260 plate appearances followed by a season in 2024 where he’d miss the entirety of September with a hand injury.

Still, even with his 2024 IL stint, Pasquantino has now passed the maximum threshold of his extension in two straight seasons, smashing it in 2025 with 682 plate appearances, meaning it’s entirely realistic to think that he’ll be receiving more than that guaranteed $11.1 million.

Royals News: Former KC first baseman Carlos Santana signs with the Arizona Diamondbacks

Lastly, we end things off with an old friend seemingly getting one of his final shots in the big leagues.

On Tuesday, after some weekend speculation, it was reported that former Royals first baseman Carlos Santana would be signing a one-year, $2 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Santana’s free agency seemed uncertain after a rough 2025 season split between the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago Cubs, where he slashed just .219/.308/.325 with an 82 wRC+ in 124 games.

However, he’s a veteran presence with All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger pedigree that before his struggles last season, was coming off three consecutive above-average seasons at the plate in the eyes of wRC+.

While better know for his multiple stints in Cleveland, Santana did spend the 2021 season in Kansas City, where things didn’t go exactly to plan after slashing just .214/.319/.342. However, he did manage to slug 19 homers and drive in a respectable 69 runs that year.