Rival executives disrespect Royals’ Carter Jensen in latest Rookie of the Year poll

The new year is officially upon us and while there’s plenty of further additions many teams, including the Kansas City Royals, could make in the coming months, it’s a lot easier to now start thinking about the 2026 season.

With said thinking comes predictions and determining who the standout sensations will be after the games have been played and all is said and done next fall.

MLB Pipeline released the results of a poll they sent out out to league executives to get their opinions on who will take home Rookie of the Year honors and there were plenty of unsurprising names on there, including Royals rookie Carter Jensen.

However, how frequently the Royals top prospect and prized backstop showed up in the voting tally was what was truly alarming.

Rival executives disrespect Royals’ Carter Jensen in MLB Pipeline’s latest Rookie of the Year poll

In Pipeline’s poll, Jensen received just 6.8% of the vote, tied with Red Sox pitcher Payton Tolle, and behind Tigers infield prospect Kevin McGonigle (25.0%), Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage (25.0%) and Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo (13.6%).

Now, this isn’t to say that these names above him aren’t deserving their fair share of love, as all are firmly within the Top 50, and in some cases the Top 10, prospects in baseball. But so too is Jensen.

And apart from Trey Yesavage, who after his postseason heroics feels more than deserving to top this list, Jensen has something that the two other names ahead of him don’t…tangible MLB success.

McGonigle is Pipeline’s No. 2 overall prospect in baseball and with a 182 wRC+ between High-A and Double-A in 2025 while playing at the premium shortstop position, he has all the tools to be the next big thing. But that’s not always how things play out when the call to the show comes, just ask the Orioles and former top prospect Jackson Holliday.

Speaking of the Orioles, Basallo did end up making his MLB debut in 2025, but to put it nicely, things didn’t go exactly swimmingly for the No. 7 overall prospect in baseball according to Pipeline’s rankings.

In 31 games in Baltimore, the 21-year-old slashed just .165/.229/.330 with a 55 wRC+ and -0.3 fWAR.

Jensen on the other hand looked spectacular in his 20-game stint with Royals in September. In 69 plate appearances, the 22-year-old slashed .300/.391/.550 with three homers, 13 RBI, a 159 wRC+ and 0.7 fWAR. This also came off the back of a season in the upper minors where he slashed a .290/.377/.501 with 20 HR, 76 RBI and a 136 wRC+.

To put things further into context, of any big league hitter with at least 60 plate appearances in 2025, Jensen ranked T-14th in AVG, 10th in OBP, T-9th in SLG, 7th in OPS and T-7th in wRC+. Not only did he look the part of a major leaguer, his stats were comparatively among the best in baseball.

And it’s not as if he doesn’t have a clear role in 2026 like some of these other names could have. With Salvador Perez not getting any younger, there will be plenty of games up for grabs behind the dish and with their use of three catchers and flexible DH spot, there’s no shortage of ABs to be had as a DH for Jensen as well.

Simply put, Jensen has done nothing to persuade people he can’t handle the majors so far. While this isn’t to say that he deserves to be higher than names like Yesavage or will win the award in general in 2026, the point here is that a 6.8% polling total among league executives seems egregiously low when everything is put on the table.