Nori Aoki GM, Bobby Witt Jr. makes history, new Wild Card competitor

The 2025 season is into it’s final month and the majority of Kansas City Royals headlines will surely be focused on their current chaotic AL Wild Card push, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other Royals-related headlines to follow.

From old friends forging new paths for themselves, to current superstars cementing themselves in new areas in the history books, to a new team joining Kansas City in the Wild card race, there’s plenty of under-the-radar headlines the Royals faithful should be aware of now that September is firmly upon us.

Royals News: Former KC outfielder Nori Aoki to become GM of NPB’s Yakult Swallows

One of the faces of the Kansas City Royals’ 2014 World Series run is set to start a new chapter in his baseball career.

After retiring from professional baseball last year after playing the 2024 season in NPB with the Yakult Swallows, Nori Aoki will now put on his executive hat and become the Swallows’ GM at the end of the 2025 season, according to a report from Yahoo Japan.

Aoki has served as the special assistant to the GM since January and now will be tasked with taking the reins of Yakult’s front office for the 2026 campaign.

After leaving MLB after the 2017 season, Aoki returned to Japan to play for Yakult for the next seven seasons. This was the same organization in which he started his pro career with back in 2004 before making the jump stateside in 2012.

On top of playing for the Royals, Aoki spent time in MLB with the Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets from 2012 to 2017.

However, Royals fans will remember him best for his one season he spent in Kansas City back in 2014. In 132 games with the Royals that season, Aoki hit .285 with one home run, 43 RBI, 17 stolen bases, a .710 OPS and a 102 wRC+.

Royals News: Bobby Witt Jr. joins some exclusively and elite company with latest feat

Moving to a current Royal, Bobby Witt Jr. has reached another impressive feat this season, reminding everyone just how historically great a player he’s developing into.

In case you weren’t already aware, as Just Baseball pointed out this week, Bobby Witt Jr. has joined some elite shortstop company. He is just the second shortstop in major league history with 100 HR, 100 SB and a 25.0 fWAR at the age of 25 or under, joining Álex Rodríguez.

For his career, Witt has 102 HR, 144 SB and a 25.6 fWAR. This is in part thanks to the remarkable season he’s put together in 2025 following his career year in 2024 where he finished runner-up to Aaron Judge in AL MVP voting.

Royals News: Tampa Bay Rays’ recent surge gives KC another team to worry about in AL Wild Card race

Lastly, leaning into the dominant AL Wild Card race storyline, a new team has catapulted their way into the postseason race to challenge the Royals in their pursuit for a second straight postseason appearance.

The Tampa Bay Rays are back up to .500 and just 1.0 game back of the Royals after going 8-2 in their last 10 games, including their current five-game winning streak.

This means that there are now five teams within 4.0 games of each other, battling it out for the AL’s final postseason position.

The Rays are currently putting the finishing touches on a helpful series win for the Royals over the Mariners, who are currently in possession of the final Wild Card spot.

Looking at the strength of remaining schedule according to Tankathon, the Royals are a middle of the pack team, sitting 14th with a .504 opponent’s winning percentage. The Rays on the other hand, hold MLB’s sixth most difficult remaining slate of games, with an opponent’s winning percentage of .517.